Cursed
by blue sapphire lady
Summary: Draco Malfoy's life was amazing until he knocked down an old woman. Now to pay for his crime, he's a cursed man and the only person who can help him is Hermione Granger. Too bad she'd rather eat slugs.
1. Ladies Room

Title: Curse

summary: Draco Malfoy's life going perfectly fine. He had money, good looks, money and good looks. What else does he need in life? But soon his life turns upside down when he finds out that he has a terrible curse. Why? It might have been because he knocked down an old lady off the sidewalk… But what does Hermione Granger have to do with this? The two enemies will soon learn that love can happen anywhere and to anyone. Read and review!!!

(Author's Note: In this story I make Draco a bit of a clean freak as you'll soon find out. I got the idea for this specific chapter when I was in line at a public washroom on the way to New York City because we had a fifteen minute break. Well back to the point… the washroom was disgusting! Although I'm very exasperate in this story, I'm sure a lot of people had to use those really gross public bathroom and if you're lucky, you only had to use it once!)

Chapter 1- Ladies Room

_OH NO! For crying out loud not again!_ He moaned in his head, cursing violently under his breath. Shoving people out if his way, he angrily growled at those who even dared to protest.

_I cannot believe this_, he thought in outrage pushing passed large crowds of people.

"Pah, you should be grateful that you're in my presence you disgusting hairy mudblood," he snapped under his breath as an annoyed bearded man started to give the tall blonde teenager a piece of his mind.

_I can't believe I just touched you_, he added in an afterthought as he gave one last murderous glare towards the bearded man's direction. The bearded man growled ferociously at the young man and pointed the middle finger at him.

_Don't you dare growl at me you ugly dog_, thought the young blonde teenager as he turned around and continued pushing people aside.

He needed to go bad. He couldn't hold it, he needed to find the nearest place and he needed to find the nearest place now. Why oh why couldn't everything be at his call?

_What is wrong with me?_ He thought to himself furiously, blushing a light pink.

The need of going to the bathroom simply was getting out of control and he didn't like it one bit. It was embarrassing, a horrible secret that he didn't want anybody to know. The mere thought of this embarrassing secret being the talk of the day made the hair at the back of his neck stand up.

_I am young, handsome, athletic, handsome, intelligent and handsome. This shouldn't happen to me! H_e thought as he searched for a public bathroom.

Yes, he was so desperate that he was going to do something that he had never done before. He was going to a public bathroom. Just those two words made him shudder in disgust. He could picture perfectly flies buzzing around the toilets, (he never actually went inside a Muggle public bathroom but was certain as what it looked like), toilet paper on the ground and most disgusting of all…no soap. It was practically his worst nightmare and he was certain that fate had planned this to make him look like a fool.

The teenage boy began walking faster and faster in fear that he'll never find a public bathroom…until it was too late.

_Oh for Merlin's sake please let **that **never happen again_, he shuddered, wide eyed picturing himself by a tree or a bush. He had done it once in his entire life and was ashamed of it to this day.

_Only pathetic Muggles and Muggle lovers do such atrocious thing_, he convinced himself.

_I must be cursed_, he concluded sighing deeply while shaking his head, _sometimes my beautiful face can be a burden. Of course people wish they could look like me… _

There was no other reason. He was absolutely certain that an envious person had done something to him because of his witty charm and amazing looks. Who else wouldn't be jealous of him? He was, of course, Draco Malfoy. Not just Draco Malfoy, one of the "most amazing, charming and drop dead gorgeous man of the century" but he was "The Draco Malfoy"(hence the word the). There simply was no other like him, only people who wanted to be him.

Or…maybe it was the fact that he knocked down an old toothless woman down a few days ago while walking on the sidewalk. He remembered perfectly well her reaction, which wasn't the least bit polite on her part.

"_Young man, didn't your mother teach you any manners?" she barked rudely as she slowly stood on her wobbling feet, an angry gleam in her dark brown eyes._

_She looks disgusting, thought Draco looking her up and down, wondering if he was the only wizard with any fashion sense in the Wizarding World._

_The old woman was dressed all in black which made Draco wonder if she had went to a funeral until he remembered he was wearing all black too. Her ragged robes were dirty, ripped and the end of her dress was collecting the dirt on the sidewalk. She held many bags which Draco didn't want to know what was inside and held a long wooden cane. Her wand was nowhere to be seen._

"_I'd be surprised if she even knows what soap is," he muttered to himself. He suddenly straightened up, trying to intimidate the old short woman._

"Old woman, I show my manners to people with class," Draco Malfoy said out loud with an air of superiority shaking the invisible dust off his robes as if to show his point.

" Watch your mouth young boy before I teach you a lesson you'll never forget," warned the old woman pointing a pointed finger at Draco.

How dare she talk to me like that! Like I'm her equal. Beside she's too dirty to even walk on the sidewalk. What has this world come too? No one cares about hygiene or appearances any more.

Draco gave her a glare and purposely kicked one of the bags that the old woman hadn't picked up.

"_You'll pay for that pretty boy," retorted the aging woman and with reflexes quick as lightning that even surprised Draco, she whipped out her wand from beneath her dirty ragged clothes and muttered a spell under her breath. A white beam of light hit Draco square on the chest. He took a step back in shock._

_No she didn't! He gasped in disbelief, his had on his chest._

_A funny sensation overcame him…and he suddenly had to go to the bathroom. Before he could throw an insult at the old woman, she disappeared into thin air, leaving her bags and cane behind._

_Draco kicked all the bags, the context either breaking or rolling on the sidewalk._

"_Stupid crazy woman," Draco muttered under his breath, wondering what on earth that woman had done to him. His hands immediately reached for his face, his hands touching his smooth, flawless skin._

_Well she definitely didn't give me pimples or disfigured my face, he thought with a sigh of relief. _

_Just to make sure that he didn't have a third eye on his forehead or something unusual as that, Draco peered at the shop mirrors, ignoring the odd stares coming his way._

"_Do you have a problem?" he snapped at the people staring and sniggering at him. They were immediately silenced and turned away._

_Jealous, he thought, smirking. They're so jealous._

Draco now wondered if all this was the crazy women's doing of going to the bathroom practically every two hours. He knew that this wasn't normal whatsoever. Before he could think any further about that strange woman, he saw the one thing he had been searching for.

A public bathroom.

Draco felt mixed emotions of disgust and happiness. He quickly rushed towards the small building, noting to himself that there was no one near him.

_Thank Merlin_, he thought, relief washing over him.

He stood in front of the door beside the rusty sign that spelled in rusty yellow paint "Public Bathroom."

_I can't…can't do it_, he thought staring hard at that doorknob. _I…can't open it!_

Images of muggles holding the doorknob without washing their hands or having snot on their hands just horrified Draco.

Millions and millions of germs…

Millions and millions of M**uggle **germs…

Pulling out a white handkerchief with his initials written in silver and green from his pocket, he turned the doorknob and gave a deep breath. Draco Malfoy had entered the building.

_I think I'm going to barf_, he thought as he closed the door behind him.

The odor inside the building was the worst smell Draco had the unfortunate to smell in his entire life. The walls were dirty with brown handprints, which made Draco crinkle in disgust, having an idea but honestly not wanting to know what the brown handprints were.

_Maybe a bush is better_, he thought to himself having second thoughts about using the public bathroom. But his body just wouldn't listen as his brain commanded his legs to leave the building.

_Move you stupid legs. I said move! _He ordered but to no avail.

"If anyone ever sees me, Muggle, wizard or witch…" he said out loud, leaving the sentence in mid air. He opened the men's bathroom with a new handkerchief as the old used one was lying on the floor and held his breath.

Draco passed by every cubicle; his spotless black shoes and robes the only clean thing in the bathroom.

_You've got to be kidding me_, he thought in disbelief looking around his surroundings.

On every cubicle there was a ripped piece of paper with the dreaded black words of "Broken" or "Out Of Order."

"Why does the world hate me so?" cried Draco his hands raised to the high ceiling. "For Merlin's sake, I need to go to the bathroom. Now!" he bellowed to the empty room, waiting as if it would magically turn into a spotless bathroom that he was so used to at his home.

Barging out of the men's room in rage, he stared hard at the ladies rooms that looked so inviting. It probably was bigger, ladies room were always bigger. And beside ladies rooms are usually cleaner than the men's.

No one would know…

After a quick second of hesitation, Draco opened the ladies bathroom with another brand new handkerchief and held his breath once again.

_What have I become_? He wondered shaking his blonde head in dismay.

But he didn't come to the ladies room for nothing. Draco did what he had to do. He gave a huge sigh of relief. It was true, the ladies bathroom was much cleaner and bigger than the men's bathroom. He began humming a tune.

Suddenly the door of the ladies bathroom opened and closed. Draco froze, his blood cold. Quiet as he could be, Draco stopped humming and zipped his pants.

"Is anyone there?" asked a voice that obviously belonged to a woman.

What? No one is supposed to be here! I'm supposed to be alone! Panicked Draco silently. He could just disapparate but that means he wouldn't be able to wash his hands and there was no way that he would leave without washing his hands.

"No," responded Draco quietly and mentality slapped himself for his stupidity of answering the woman's answer.

"Which cubicle are you in? I'm sorry for being so blunt with you but do you have by any chance a tampon?" asked the unknown woman.

_Tampon? Is that some secret code that those stupid Muggles use?_ Thought Draco confused and annoyed.

"Hello? Did you hear me?" asked the woman more persistent.

_Bug off you stupid Muggle! Can't that little incompetent brain of yours understand that I want to be alone?! Be gone_, commanded Draco impatiently.

His fingers itched to flush the toilet in front of him but that would just mean that he had no other reason to stay in the cubicle. So here was Draco Malfoy, looking at the toilet wishing he was somewhere else. Anywhere else for that matter.

"Curse you, you old woman," Draco hissed clenching his fists in anger.

"I'm sorry but I really, really, really need one. Don't you understand? This is an emergency," persisted the woman knocking on Draco's cubicle non-stop.

"Sorry, don't have a tampoon," squeaked Draco his impression of voicing a young woman put to the test.

Draco heard the woman open a cubicle beside his and he groaned. There was a long pause as neither Draco or the woman was talking.

"Um…excuse me? Do you have any toilet paper? It seems that it's finished over here," asked the woman timidly. Draco remained silent, clenching his teeth.

_Maybe if I don't say anything she'll go away_, he thought hoping against the odds.

"Hello? Did you hear me? Can you pass me any toilet paper? I obviously can't leave and go get one myself," she continued.

Draco stared at the two rolls of toilet paper sitting on top of the toilet and smirked.

"Sorry, don't have enough to share," he said in a high-pitched voice.

"Are you sure?" pleaded the woman.

"I'm desperately sorry, don't have enough," replied Draco in the same high-pitched voice.

"All I need is five squares. Five squares! Can you please just give me five squares?" repeated the woman.

And on and on it went until Draco threw one of the toilet paper over his cubicle out of sheer annoyance.

_She honestly doesn't know when to shut up_, he thought fuming, angry that his marvelous idea hadn't gone according to plan.

Neither was his plan of not being seen in a ladies bathroom exactly going to plan. But to Draco's relief, he heard the woman flush the toilet and open the door.

"Are you alright? You've been there for quite some time. Maybe you need a tampon since the machine is broken too," joked the woman lightly.

_JUST LEAVE! LEAVE MY BEAUTIFUL SELF IN PEACE_! Yelled Draco in his head, having enough. The urge to blast that annoying questioning woman to the North Pole was very strong to fight.

"So, how was your day? Horrible weather we're having aren't we?" said the woman trying to bring up a conversation.

"I better take it like a man," whispered Draco to himself and flushed the toilet with another handkerchief. Dropping it quickly on the ground as thought afraid that the germs would attack his flawless skin, he brought another one from his pocket and found to his horror, it was his last one.

_I have to use this well_, he thought staring down at his last handkerchief.

"Do you need me to call someone?" asked the annoying woman, "Are you sure you're alright?"

In reply Draco opened the cubicle wide open, secretly hoping that he hit the woman square on the face. But he found to dismay that he didn't as he didn't hear a shriek of pain or the door colliding with the annoying woman's face. He stared down at the pestering woman who had practically made it a point to annoy the hell out of him but what he got was the shock of his life. His mouth hung open and his gray eyes bulged from its sockets as he stared into a pair of chocolate brown eyes.

The woman in front of him was none other than Hermione Granger.

Bloody hell… 

(Author's Note: Ta da! Here's chapter 1. Hermione doesn't really show up in the chapter except the end but she's definitely in the second chapter. I wasn't sure if I wanted to write the story now because I already started one but it kept popping in my head so I finally gave up and wrote it. Tell me what you think! This is my first Draco/Hermione story so I'm wondering if it would look like Hermione or/and Draco would do or act or talk… Tell me your favorite part, least favorite, anything!!! Chapter two and three is already written so I'm hoping it won't take as long to submit but I can't promise anything. I have that bad habit of submitting a chapter every two weeks but I don't think I'll take as long with this story (and I hope). Well thanks for reading,

blue sapphire lady

p.s oh yeah, my author's note won't be so long, it's just a little introduction…)


	2. A Strange Encouter

Cursed

Chapter 2- A Strange Encouter

_I think I'm having a nightmare. No, I'm hallucinating. That's it, it's the only logical and possible reason,_ thought Draco as he stood frozen, his last handkerchief clenched tightly in his right hand.

"Ma..Ma..Ma," stuttered Hermione, a look of pure disbelief and shock written on her face. It was obvious to say that she couldn't even say Draco's name.

_Why out of all the people I had to meet, it had to be Granger? _He sighed in frustration. He blushed in embarrassment but quickly disguised it by one of his oh so famous sneers.

"It's Malfoy Granger. It seems that you lost your intelligence once you began living in the real world. No books on how to live," he sneered maliciously at her. Hermione immediately scowled at him. She blushed a dark red.

I _can't believe this! Mr All Mighty Malfoy thinks he's still all that_. Pah! Thought Hermione. _And I can't believe that I asked him for a tampon…_

"Well if I lost my intelligence, you must be an idiot. What in the word are you dong in the ladies room?" snapped Hermione sharply, a small smile of triumphant forming on her lips, emphasizing the words "ladies room." She knew she had him trapped in a corner.

_Stupid Granger, always has a comeback_, thought Draco, his sneer replaced by a scowl. An idea suddenly came as to how embarrass Hermione in front of him and he smirked inwardly.

"What I do is none of your business," replied Draco coldly stepping closer to Hermione until she could feel his breath on her face.

_Why is he so close_? Wondered Hermione feeling uncomfortable and intimidated under Malfoy's intense stare. But she stared back, determined to make sure he wouldn't get the better of her.

Draco continued to stare at Hermione, not blinking for a very long time.

"I got you just where I want you," he whispered coming closer and closer, his grey eyes looking at Hermione's lips before looking back into her brown eyes. Hermione didn't move from her spot nor did she tell him to get lost. She just stood there waiting.

_What the hell am I waiting for?_ Thought Hermione although she knew the answer. Draco's lips just barely touched Hermione's cheek, making her blush a bright red. A smirk formed on Draco's lips as he whispered into her ear, sending chills all over Hermione's body.

"You didn't think that I would actually kiss you, did you Granger," he whispered mockingly as he pulled back. Hermione gave him her darkest glare, feeling this sudden anger and hatred pulsing through her veins.

"You are a foul, arrogant, power hungry man Malfoy," she hissed, her face so red.

I can't believe that I almost wanted Malfoy to kiss me! This is absolutely ridiculous, thought Hermione feeling very embarrassed.

Her hand searched her pockets for her want until she felt it brush against her fingertips. She grabbed her wand. Before she could curse Draco into the next century, Draco grabbed her arms having an idea as what she wanted to do to her. Hermione's wand fell on the ground beside the two.

"Do you want me to kiss you now Granger?" asked Draco mockingly, " Is that Victor Krum not good enough for you? That's what it seems like, doesn't it?"

At the mere mention of Victor Krum's name, Hermione blushed an even darker red. If looks could kill, Draco would have been dead right at that moment. Just the mention of his name brought unpleasant memories that Hermione had spend so much to forget.

She had to admit; her love life, between 1 and 10, was at a 1,5. Ever since her nasty break up with her steady boyfriend of three years, Viktor Krum, Hermione Granger was known as the girl who broke the amazing and 'handsome' Quidditch player's heart. The "important" news were splattered all over every single wizarding newspaper except for the 'Quibbler.' A picture of her and Viktor had been on the front page of the Daily Prophet for several months, nasty rumors being spread about Hermione and her 'problems' and that she should change her cheating ways. At work Hermione had received many hate mail with very rude comments about her and how she had hurt Victor's heart.

_But that doesn't Malfoy to make fun of me_, thought Hermione angrily and tried to grab her wand.

"Nice try Mudblood, you can never curse me now that you're wandless," said Draco arrogantly. Hermione tried to pull away from him but his grasps on her wrists were too tight.

"Help! Help!" she screamed out loud.

"What do you think you're doing? This place is practically deserted. No one can hear you," commented Draco. Knowing that he had a point, Hermione grudgingly stopped yelling. There was a long silence until Hermione finally spoke.

"Wait until I tell Harry and Ron," said Hermione starting to laugh, finding the whole situation very comically even though Draco had her pinned against him, " Draco Malfoy in a ladies room,"

"You'll do no such thing," snarled Draco. The horror of this meeting reaching anyone's ears would force Draco into hiding.

_She can't do that. I'll never be able to show my face in public ever again,_ he thought horrified at the mere idea of being an outcast. _This is Weasel's dream of living for crying out loud, not mine!_

"And Ginny, Lavender, Fred, George," continued Hermione, naming more people. She stopped when she found out to her surprise, that Malfoy had let go of her. She turned around to face him seeing that he was holding her wand in his hand, pointing it at her chest. Hermione immediately stopped laughing.

"Malfoy, give me my wand back," said Hermione cautiously, taking a step closer.

"Granger, I'm the one who's giving the orders now," replied Draco coolly.

"What are you going to do? Curse me?" challenged Hermione raising an eyebrow.

"No," drawled Draco simply watching her now with amusement, his annoyance gone.

"Then what?" asked Hermione impatiently, tapping her foot, making the only noise in the room.

"Turn the knobs," said Draco.

Hermione stared at Draco with a blank expression. It took a moment for Hermione to understand Draco's strange command. Hermione stared at the sink and back at him, waiting for him to say that he was joking. But to Hermione's surprise, Draco had a serious expression on his face.

_Does she think that I would ever touch that sink?_ Thought Draco impatiently fighting the urge to roll his eyes.

_Come on Granger, it's not like I'm asking you to fix your eyebrows_, he thought sarcastically feeling like he was going to burst any second, seeing her staring at the sink back at him for the third time. _Or your nose for that matter. Or your chin or your ghastly bear hair…_

"Any day now Granger. I though you were the smartest witch in your age. Even Longbottom could do better," he snapped giving her a death glare. Hermione began to giggle.

_I can't believe Malfoy is actually serious. He's scared to touch the sink_, she thought heartedly laughing harder and harder while Draco's expression darkened considerably.

Very soon Hermione was laughing while Draco's cheeks flushed a light pink.

"Granger, now!" he ordered and he watched Hermione joyfully walked to the sink in slow motion. Draco was certain she was testing him as it seemed to take an eternity to take one step.

"For crying out loud Mudblood, stop laughing, you sound like banshee and start walking faster," cried Draco waving Hermione's wand of pure frustration. Hermione immediately stopped laughing and gave him the middle finger out of pure irritation.

"I do not sound like a banshee Malfoy," snapped Hermione, feeling rather hurt.

"Now why don't you put your ugly fat fingers into good use and turn the damn knobs before we die of old age," continued Draco dramatically. He had the strong urge to kick something at that moment.

_A house-elf wouldn't be bad but Miss Save The House Elves From Slavery would probably have a heart attack_, thought Draco.

He snorted picturing Hermione clutching her chest in horror and falling on the dirty ground. Unfortunate for him, Hermione's shrill voice broke his daydream and he came back to reality.

"Malfoy, you're acting so immature. We won't die of old age-"

"You'll just die of poverty and ugliness- " he snapped back.

"Why don't you just be a man and hand me my wand?" countered Hermione angrily, not moving from her spot and ignoring Draco's loud comment as he had interrupted her.

"First of all Granger, I do have a life and if you didn't know, I plan to have it in here as little as possible!"

"So do I," argued Hermione. Draco made a huge fake gasp of surprise.

"Do you think I like being near you? I have so much important things to do-"

"Like what? Go make out with that hideous Weasley?" asked Draco, his voice laced with thick sarcasms.

"No," replied Hermione crossing her arms in front of her and glaring at him repeatedly telling herself to stay calm.

_Don't let him get to you. Don't let him get to you. Don't let him get to you._

"Oh really? Well I always thought that he was gay…"trailed Draco. Hermione gasped and started giving Draco a very colourful vocabulary that he never thought she had.

"If you don't turn those knobs, I'll break your wand in two," threatened Draco, a crazy glint in his eyes.

"You wouldn't dare," growled Hermione.

_What's with Muggles and the growling?!_ Thought Draco remembering the bearded man.

Again Draco was fighting the urge to hit her hard on the head for her lack of obedience. Draco merely held her wand with both hands looking as though he was ready to crack it any moment.

Hermione stuck her nose in the air in disapproval but walked in a normal pace towards the sink and turned the knobs. Draco gave a look of disgust behind her back.

_How can she not feel the germs crawling and licking and sticking to her skin_? He thought staring at her at the corner of his eye as he also was looking at his reflection checking on his hair.

_Not that wild thing she calls hair_, he thought taking pride at how beautiful his hair shone in the light. The taps squeaked and water came out, splashing against the dirty sink.

Draco slowly approached the sink, making sure not to look at an outraged Hermione for not handing her her wand and started washing his hands.

"Are you out of your mind?" he cried moving his hands away the second he touched the water.

"What now?" Hermione asked tiredly rubbing her forehead.

_He is such a pain_, she thought eyeing her wand in his pocket. _If only I could grab it…_

She grumbled to herself, wondering why she out of all the people in the world, had to meet Mister Draco Malfoy.

"Water's too cold," barked Draco looking at Hermione, as though looking at his house elf.

_She does remind me of Dobby_, he thought remembering his old house elf. _Lack of intelligence, no good looks…_

"What's the magic word Malfoy?" asked Hermione suddenly pleasantly.

"Mudblood do it now," ordered Draco.

_I don't have time to waste with you_, thought Draco as he snorted in disbelief. _She cannot and will not order me around. I am her superior for crying out loud!_

Hermione just stared back at him with determination.

_I will make him say it_, she thought glaring at him. _I am going to make him say please_.

_I will not say it_, thought Draco glaring back at her. _I never had the need to say it before and I'm definitely not going to say it now._

(Author's Note: This is where chapter two ends every body!!! Hope you guys liked it. It was pretty fun writing it. You'll find out what the curse actually is that has 'fallen' on the 'poor handsome' Draco Malfoy in chapter 4 and just to give a little hint Hermione will be affected as well. (ha ha ha ha)

Well review if you have any comments!!! I love em!

blue sapphire lady)


	3. Please

Title: Cursed

Chapter 3- Please

Hermione glared at Draco and Draco angrily glared back.

_Why? Oh why, why, why must everyone make fun of me today of all days? Is it "Annoy The Hell Out Of Gorgeous Draco Malfoy Day?! No I think not!_ Thought Draco, but knew that Hermione had the advantage and she was using it very well.

"Say it," commanded Hermione rather arrogantly in Draco's opinion.

_How dare she give me orders? Who does she think she is?_ Thought Draco furiously. But just thinking of the germs on his hands disgusted him and he needed his hands to be clean.

"Pl…pl," stuttered Draco.

_How hard is it to say please?_ Thought Hermione, tapping her foot in a fast beat.

_Just say it damn it_, thought Draco as he felt sweat run down his face. _This is ridiculous! I can't show Granger any weaknesses! I am a god!_

"I'm waiting," sang Hermione in a high voice.

_Never sing again Granger_, shuddered Draco.

That simple word would not escape from his lips and every second he spend stuttering like an idiot (kind of reminded him of Weasley), the longer he was staying in the bathroom. He was staying for so long that he had, to his horror, got accustomed to the horrible smell.

"Please," hissed Draco wondering how on earth Hermione had gotten the better out of him. A large smile crept on Hermione's lips.

"What? I'm sorry, didn't really catch that," said Hermione quite happily, having trouble of hiding her glee.

_Don't mess with me Granger_, growled Draco.

"Please," hissed Draco in a deadly tone, impatience and malice thick in his voice.

"I can't hear you. Could you speak up? Just a tiny little bit?" asked Hermione once again. Draco gave her a look that could kill in which Hermione replied with a sweet smile.

"I. Said. Please," he whispered bringing his face suddenly close to hers, looking deeply into her eyes, hoping to intimidate her. It worked as Hermione quickly turned away, praying that Draco didn't notice the blush creeping in her cheeks.

_Why the heck am I blushing?_ She thought to herself. Hermione turned the knobs while Draco smirked, his foul mood gone.

_I made her touch it. I have her in the palm of my hand_, he thought smugly. _But I will never beg to Granger for the rest of my life!_

Draco touched the water and pulled back immediately.

"What now?" sighed Hermione irritably.

"It's too hot for crying out loud! Are you trying to burn my beautiful skin Mudblood?" snapped Draco angrily.

"Malfoy, you can't be serious," replied Hermione rolling her eyes.

_Why does he always have to act like a spoiled brat? Oh sorry, he is one_, she thought sarcastically, fighting the strong urge to slap him on the head.

"Have you touched the water Granger? Go on, touch it," insisted Draco. Hermione muttered under her breath of how much time she was wasting but touched the water nonetheless.

Hermione turned to look back at Draco looking as thought she was talking to a three year old child who was throwing a temper.

"It's fine Malfoy, so stop complaining, wash your hands and give me my wand," ordered Hermione. Draco stared at her in disbelief.

"You're kidding Granger. You can't even do one tiny thing right and expect me to give you your wand back in return. Maybe I should flush it down the toilet," said Draco, his eyes dancing with mirth while Hermione's flashed with annoyance.

The two continued bickering on and on, the running water forgotten. In only a few minutes, the two were red in the face as they were yelling insults at each other.

"You're such a spoiled brat!"

"I'm a handsome spoiled- hey!"

"Malfoy, trust me when I say that you're ugly."

"Granger, I never knew you were so blind to you own ugliness. I am in fact the most handsome man you've ever seen you entire life," replied Draco conceitedly and Hermione said something under her breath. And the arguments and insults started all over again.

Draco suddenly stopped and walked purposely towards Hermione's directions that look in his eyes that Hermione had seen before not too long ago. His sneer was gone and a ghost of a smirk was playing on his lips.

_He had that look when we almost…_almost, thought Hermione recalling very well when his breath had tickled her ear, their noses almost touching and the goose bumps she felt. Recalling all this, Hermione blushed a dark red, making the suddenly confident and cool Draco Malfoy smirk even more.

Confusion was in her eyes as she saw Draco's sudden change of composure.

_I liked it better when we were fighting. We had at least some good distance between us,_ thought Hermione feeling suddenly vulnerable.

Her fingers searched for her wand in her pockets until she stopped midway, remembering that it was actually in Draco's pockets. She mentally kicked herself for her clumsiness.

_Now I'm definitely paying for it ,_ thought Hermione. She felt a flicker of fear but this other strong feeling she had was bothering her. Excitement. She felt excited, scared, angry and defenseless at the same time.

With every step that Draco took towards her, Hermione took a step back.

"Why so quiet Granger?" asked Draco mockingly, coming closer and closer.

_I've got you now Granger,_ thougt Draco, his eyes never mocing away from his prey. _You hate not being in control. I've got you just where I want you._

Hermione's eyes, barely more than slits and filled with suspicion and caution, stared hard in Draco's eyes, not wanting him to see her uncertainty.

"Malfoy, what do you think you're doing?" asked Hermione sharply. She let out a small gasp of surprise when her back collided with the wall. She was trapped.

Her eyes darted in every direction, desperately trying to find a way to escape. But it was too late.

_Oh no. What am I going to do now?_ She thought inwardly groaning at the situation. Unfortunate for her, Draco had the advantage and he was using it well.

Draco stopped right in front of her, hardly any space between the two.

"Granger," he whispered lightly in her ear sending goose bumps once again through her body.

"What do you want?" asked Hermione rudely, sounding braver than she felt.

"Nothing," he whispered smirking. Hermione desperately wanted to ripe that smirk off his face but kept her hands at her side.

_He's doing it again_, she though angrily. _Who does he think he is?_

She remembered when he had almost kissed her, how his eyes stared at her pink lips then back into her eyes before saying those poisonous words that stung.

_You didn't think I would actually kiss you, did you Granger?_

"Get away from me Malfoy. Leave me alone," hissed Hermione furiously.

_That's right Granger. Get mad because you know I'm better than you_, thought Draco.

Hermione tried to push Draco away, instead of being sandwiched between him and the dirty wall. But Draco was holding Hermione's wrists tightly, making her unable to move.

"Haven't we done this before?" sneered Draco, his hot breathe on Hermione's neck.

"Shut up," said Hermione lamely, unable to make a comeback.

"This is new. Mudblood has nothing to say for once in her life," commented Draco.

"Malfoy let go of me!" cried Hermione in distraught.

"I think that I'm quite comfortable Granger, how about you?" he asked with suck fake concern that it made Hermione want to gag.

"Oh I' m just having the time of my life," replied Hermione sarcastically.

"Granger, I knew you secretly had feelings for me. How cold you not? No sane woman could not fall in live with me and my charming looks," whispered Draco arrogantly.

"Malfoy I was being sarcastic. I have more feelings for a cow than for you," she spat venomously.

"Bushy Hair," said Draco, using her new nickname that he made up especially for her-which she detested, " I know you weakness. I can't believe that I couldn't figure it out before all those years. Guess I wasn't paying much attention,"

Hermione stood frozen as she felt Draco's lips on her neck. Her mind became fuzzy, her legs suddenly losing strength. Scared of falling on the ground in front of Draco, she pressed her body against his for support.

Draco shouldn't help but feel disgusted with himself. He was kissing Hermione's neck. As in know-it-all Hermione Granger.

_Why am I doing this again?_ He asked himself.

_Because you're in control and you like it, that's why_, answered a voice in his head.

But it's Mudblood Granger! Why kiss her when I can simply curse her or make her stuck to a toilet?

This is more fun. And besides, you know you like it… 

It was true. Well, sort of. He liked it bit at the same time he hated it.

"You idiot, stop," croaked Hermione finally finding her voice back.

"Ah it seems that you're not mute," smirked Draco staring her dead in the eye. His hot breathe was this time on her lips.

"Normal, boring, predictable Granger. Never takes any risks except maybe folding a page of a book instead of using a bookmark," drawled Draco lazily.

Hermione was insulted deeply by Draco's last comment.

_Normal, boring, predictable Granger?! What? Who helped find the Philosopher Stone, Chamber of Secrets and break hundreds of school rules on the way? ME!_ Screamed Hermione in her head. _Who helped Sirius Black run away from Hogwarts while a certain someone was crying because they got punched? ME!_

Hermione was so angry, she wouldn't be surprised if she had steam coming out of her ears.

_I'll show him normal, boring predictable Granger!_ She thought and did the first thing that came to her mind.

Draco stared at Hermione with sudden interest, seeing different emotions in her eyes. Before he knew what was going on, he felt Hermione's lips pressed hard against his own.

Wha..wha..what is happening? 

Hermione couldn't believe it. She was kissing Draco Malfoy, her worst enemy and she liked it.

_So much for boring Granger_, she thought triumphantly to herself. _Take that MR. I Take More Risks Than You. Bet you weren't thinking I would do that!_

Hermione pulled back after a while and opened her eyes.

"What? Where did he-"

Hermione looked in front of her wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her. Hermione opened her mouth and a loud scream escaped her lips, echoing through the bathroom.

What she saw was definitely not what she was expecting…

(Author's Note: Cliffy! Ha ha ha ha ha ha. I'm so mean I know but I had to do that, I couldn't help it (dodges a few sharp objects). Like I said before, you'll find out what Malfoy's curse is in the next chapter, and also why Hermione's screaming! You can try and guess what Malfoy's secret is…See ya later,

blue sapphire lady)


	4. A Beautiful Transformation

Title: Cursed

Chapter 4- A Beautiful Transformation

(Author's Note: You'll find out that I'm being very sarcastic with the title…)

"Granger, would you shut your big mouth! What's the matter with you?" snapped Draco angrily.

_Sometimes I'll never understand Granger. First she kisses me ( I know I'm irresistible, I can understand that) then she stars howling and screaming like she saw her reflection in the mirror. Ha, ha, what a great comedian I would have been, _thought Draco as an afterthought as he laughed to his own joke. His laughter quickly died as Hermione's screaming was still ringing in his ears.

"Shut up!" he roared wondering what would make Hermione act this way. Her eyes were bulging out of her sockets, as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing.

_What is her problem?_ Wondered Draco. _No wonder none of the guys ever dated her. She's a lunatic._

"Malfoy, what's the matter with you?" she gasped in shock, her hands shaking terribly.

"What do you mean what's the matter with me? What's the matter with you, you banshee!" cried Draco frowning deeply.

"You're…you're…you're a cow," she managed to stutter, one hand on her chest, the other on the wall as though she needed to balance herself or else she would faint.

_Is this woman off her rocket?!_ Thought Draco outraged_. How dare she try to insult me? A cow? A cow! This hideous hairy woman in front of me looks more (and acts) like a cow more than I certainly do! _

"Excuse me," Draco whispered, his eyes silently throwing daggers at Hermione, daring her to repeat what she had just said. Draco was in a state of silent fury.

"You're a cow," she repeated as though it was a fact and this time with more confidence.

_I can't believe this! So does this mean this is Malfoy true form? A cow?_ Thought Hermione, thousands of questions popping in her head. Her fear was slowly going away and instead she became more and more curious.

"Granger, if you honestly think that I'm a cow, then you must be a walrus," said Draco angrily looking up and down at Hermione, not particularly enjoying her "sense of humor."

"You should watch your mouth Malfoy. It seems that you're wandless and I have more power over you," snapped Hermione as she picked her wand that was lying on the ground.

_What the…_thought Draco suddenly as a thought practically slapped on the face. It couldn't be true. _Since when was Granger taller than me?_

Draco looked around him and saw that his expensive clothes were ripped and lying on the ground around him.

_What happened to me? What is going on?_ Panicked Draco. He turned to his right and saw his reflection in the mirror. That's when he screamed. He never screamed as loud in his entire life.

"I'm a cow!" he yelled in horror. Hermione stared at him, seeing that his reaction was very much the same with her own. She wisely didn't agree with him-out loud that it. It was actually quite odd seeing a rather smelly cow talking to her as cows don't talk.

"This can't be possible! This isn't right. What am I going to do? Why? Why does this have to happen to me?" cried Draco looking up accusingly at the ceiling, as though someone was watching and laughing at him.

_Why does fate hate me so? _He moaned in his head.

"Um…Malfoy I think you should calm down. You know it's not much of a big thing," said Hermione soothingly, starting to feel pity at just looking at the highly distress Malfoy. The white and black smelly cow turned to face her direction.

"Granger, are you blind? Do you see what I see? I'm a cow," bellowed Draco spit flying from his mouth. Hermione took a step back, as she couldn't help but to feel hurt from his outburst. It was true that only a few moments ago, she was screaming her lungs out…

_Oh she better not cry, I've already got bigger things to deal with_, thought Draco looking away, as he saw the look of hurt written on her face. Hermione quickly wiped the tears from her eyes, having no idea why she was crying.

_Why do I even bother? I was just trying to help but he has to bite my throat, doesn't he? _She thought quietly sniffing, her temper slowly mounting

"By the way Malfoy, you forgot the word smelly," she said loud and clear. She smiled to herself triumphantly.

"Granger, I may not have my wand but I can sure sit on you," threatened Draco.

"Then how are you going to get your wand back?" questioned Hermione as she played with Draco's wand in her left hand. Draco cursed silently. While he had been looking at himself in the mirror, Hermione had taken the opportunity to grab her wand and Malfoy's as well. He didn't have his wand and he didn't have any clothes, which he could wear.

_I'm cursed_, he thought. New thoughts started to turn in his head.

_Will I stay a cow? I can't stay as a cow! What shame! What embarassement! This is worst than the bathroom problem I'm having right now_, he thought angrily. Draco was so busy wondering how his life would continue that he didn't hear Hermione calling his name.

"Malfoy, are you paying attention?" she asked.

"What?" he barked rudely.

"Maybe you're an Animagus," pointed out Hermione trying to be helpful. But again she said the wrong thing.

"An Animagus? Why in the world would I want to change into this? A cow out of all things?!" roared Draco. Hermione tried to give a straight face but found it incredibly difficult seeing an angry cow yelling at her. She covered her mouth with her hand and feigned a cough, trying to suppress her giggles.

_It's her fault_, he though suddenly. E everything was starting to make perfect sense. _She turned me into a cow_!

"I have an idea," thought Draco out loud, breaking the uncomfortable silence in which Draco was glaring at her while Hermione continued, "coughing."

"Yes?" asked Hermione patiently while eyeing the door. She had her wand and she really had no reason to stay in the bathroom anymore…

"Kiss me," said Draco walking towards her. Hermione snapped her head back to his direction, a look of shock plastered on her face.

"Excuse me?" she asked hoping that she heard wrong.

"Kiss me Granger, are you that slow? You did it only a few minutes ago," commented Draco dryly. Hermione glared at him, her arms folded in front of her, a look of determination on her face.

"No," she said simply sticking her nose in the air. Draco's face turned into an odd scowl, as Hermione had never seen a cow scowled before. It took much self-control not to burst out in laughter as she bit her lip staring back at him.

"Mudblood, this is your fault. You're the one who did this! You have to kiss me so that I can turn back into human again. I can tell you right now that being a cow isn't that enjoyable," snapped Draco impatiently.

_Why does she always have to be so stubborn?_ He sighed in frustration. _Why couldn't it be Pansy instead of Granger?_

"How dare you?" cried Hermione angrily, feeling the laughter inside of her die instantly at his comment. She had her hands on her hips with a dangerous expression. She seemed speechless for words but there was no doubt that she was insulted.

"With that said, I will definitely not kiss you Malfoy," stated Hermione sternly reminding Draco very much of Professor McGonagall. Before Draco could reply, a large purple and pink cloud surrounded him from head to toe.

_What is going on?_ Thought Hermione, her curiosity getting the better of her when she could have left at that moment.

In front of her was Draco Malfoy in his human form, but was lacking something very important…

(Author's Note: Finally finished chapter 4! Yay!!! Were any of you surprised at all? Well, this is actually a little bit of the curse; he doesn't turn into a cow every time (hint, hint). It'll make sense after a few chapters. I want to say thanks to all those who review the last three chapters I really enjoy feedback! Review!)


	5. Getting Robbed

Cursed

Previously on chapter 4…

_What is going on?_ Thought Hermione, her curiosity getting the better of her when she could have left at that moment.

In front of her was Draco Malfoy in his human form, but was lacking something very important…

Chapter 5- Getting Robbed

It took a while for Draco to notice that he wasn't wearing any clothes. Hermione, on the other hand, had and was blushing, her face as red as a tomato.

_Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh_, thought Hermione, unable to think anything else. She had obviously turned away, after a long stare. She turned around to face the wall, wishing she could just melt into the ground.

"Granger, what the hell is your problem?" asked Draco annoyed.

"Um…Malfoy…you're…" stuttered Hermione. Draco stared at her, wondering what was her problem this time.

_Did I turn into a chicken or something_, he wondered looking around. Then it hit him.

Oh.

**Oh.**

"Look away," shrieked Draco, picking up his scattered and ripped clothes frantically and quickly putting them back on.

"Why do you think that I'm facing the wall Malfoy!" cried Hermione feeling just as embarrassed.

"This is all your fault!" accused Draco and he began to blush as well.

"Excuse me? Did I turn you into a cow? I think not," said Hermione her voice rising.

"You did something to me Granger, I know it," snapped Draco putting on his clothes. He swore under his breath, wondering how far his bad luck could go. Every time he put on his clothes, it would slide down to the ground.

"I need new clothes," he said after a long pause. Hermione hadn't move from her spot, her eyes still staring at the wall in front of her.

"I think I know that," she replied.

"Well I need you to buy me some," muttered Draco feeling himself blush.

_I'm asking Granger for help. Someone shoot me now_, he thought. To his surprise, Hermione nodded and stuck her hand behind her back.

"Place the money in my hand and I'll go shopping," she said. Draco said nothing, staring at her in disbelief. This certainly wasn't the reaction he was waiting for. Hermione was actually ready to cooperate. This was something new.

"What are you up to Granger?" he questioned, suspicion in his voice. He narrowed his eyes, staring at her back, wishing he could read her thoughts.

"I'm agreeing to buy you clothes Malfoy, its something called kindness. Ever heard of it?" asked Hermione sarcastically rolling her eyes.

_Honestly, does he think that I'm going to take his money and leave?_ Thought Hermione.

"What if you run away with my money?" asked Draco.

"I won't run away with your money Malfoy, what would I need it for?" replied Hermione calmly.

"Do you promise?" continued Draco.

Hermione couldn't help but smile a bit from hearing this. He sounded so vulnerable at that moment which made Hermione feel actually sorry for him. His voice was like a little child who was afraid to go to bed because monsters under his bed.

"Yes I promise Malfoy. I won't run away with your money," promised Hermione, the small smile still playing on her lips.

"Then give me your wand," demanded Draco rather harshly and the image of Draco vulnerable and in need quickly shattered.

_What in the world was I thinking? _Thought Hermione.

"Need I remind you that I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart? Or should I just leave now?" snapped Hermione losing her patience.

_There is no way in hell that I will hand my wand to him, _thought Hermione stubbornly.

_There is no way in hell that she will leave with my **money** and still have her wand_, thought Draco stubbornly. _Besides everyone knows that she needs the money…_

Ten minutes later, Hermione was stomping her way, looking for any clothing store.

_How dare he_?! Thought Hermione outraged. She was certain that steam was coming out of her ears.

She was now wandless and extremely cold. Draco had insisted non-stop that the only way that he was going to give her his money was that he had her wand in return. Hermione looked around, her angry brown eyes searching for a clothing store. But all she could find were jewelry, shoes and groceries stores. Still angry that Draco had won that battle, she pushed her way through the crowd. Suddenly an arm out of nowhere grabbed Hermione and pulled her to an alley.

"What the-" said Hermione but a hand covered her mouth while another hand searched her pockets in her cloak. Hermione's eyes widened in realization and she started to struggle. She bit the person's hand until the person let go of her mouth with a cry of pain.

"Help," hollered Hermione as she tried to free her arms from his strong grasp.

_This is one reason why I need my wand_, thought Hermione cursing Draco but especially herself for actually giving it to him. She managed to free her right arm and with all her might, she punched the man in the face.

"Ow," cried the man and Hermione simultaneously. The man let go of Hermione's left arm, holding his now broken nose, which was bleeding, while Hermione was rubbing her hand. Seeing an escape, she grabbed the small pouch that was lying on the ground and began to run. But unfortunate for her, the man was quick and dove for her legs.

"Gotcha," he said as she fell down on the ground with a loud thud.

"Let go of me!" yelled Hermione in response. She grabbed a rock nearby and threw it at the man. It hit him squarely on the forehead and he gave another cry of pain.

_I can't believe he's doing all this to get money_, thought Hermione as she wriggled once more out of his grasp. Her lip was bleeding and she was sure that she had a large bruise on her hand.

"Who's there?" came a voice nearby and the two stopped fighting and looked up. Seeing the person in front of her, Hermione's heart skipped a beat.

There was her crush and her next-door neighbor, Steven, who was staring down at Hermione. She loved the way his dark brown hair fell on his beautiful blue eyes…

_Okay, more pressing matters at hand Hermione,_ _like getting this creep off of me_, she thought, scolding herself.

"Hermione? Is that you?" he asked puzzled.

It was an odd scene. The man was holding on to Hermione's legs, blood all over his face and Hermione's pants while Hermione was struggling for dear life, punching and scratching like a wild cat.

"Yeah, um…could you help me please?" asked Hermione out of breath. Steven snapped out of his daze and grabbed out his wand. He pointed it directly at the scowling man.

"Let her go," he demanded in a stern voice. The man slowly let go of Hermione's legs but before leaving, grabbed her pouch of money and ran.

"Hey! Give me back my money!" cried Hermione. But it was too late as the man turned the corner and was gone.

_Oh great. Malfoy's definitely not going to believe me now_, she thought as she stood up, wincing as she felt a sting on her left knee.

She looked down to see her pants cut open with a cut bleeding. It seemed that Steven had seen it too as he had kindly offered to heal her wound for her. Hermione nodded, blushing slightly.

Draco walked around the bathroom for what it felt like the hundredth time today.

"Where is she? I never said that she could mingle around," he said grumpily. He could imagine her laughing to herself, buying herself some clothes.

"But I have her wand," he said to himself, playing with it with his left hand.

He sighed, wishing that he could find something to entertain him. That it until he heard it. Voices talking outside the bathroom door. Draco ran and pressed a handkerchief on the door then pressed his ear against it, hoping to hear Hermione's voice telling other people to get lost. But it seemed that nothing was ever going his way as he heard two unfamiliar female voices chatting.

"I have to go so bad!"

"This place is so disgusting!"

"Maybe we should leave and go somewhere else."

One of the two tried to push the door but Draco pushed back making sure that the door wouldn't open by an inch.

"Something's wrong with the door. It won't open," complained the first voice.

"Maybe we have to pull instead," replied the second voice.

"It says push not pull," snapped the first.

"Well sorry. Just trying to help Amanda," snapped the second voice back.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

And to Draco's displeasure, the two women began arguing while they both tried to open the door.

_Get lost you stupid Muggles!_

"So are you going to explain why you're over here out of all places?" asked Steven conversationally, smiling at her," I always imagined that you would be at the library or something,"

"Just um…you know…shopping," replied Hermione lamely blushing.

"Well I can walk with you if you want, I was just heading home, but I don't have anything better to do," he suggested. Hermione smiled at him.

"It's okay, I just have to go to a clothing store," she said.

"I'll walk you there," he insisted.

"But then I have to go to the bathroom after," continued Hermione wanting to be anywhere but here. Steven gave her another puzzle look.

"You have to go shopping then go to the bathroom? Why don't you go to the bathroom first?" asked Steven confused.

"It's a long story Steven. But thanks for saving me back there," said Hermione warmly.

Steven tried to persuade her, saying that the creep might come again. Besides, who better than he could make sure that Hermione was safe since they did live in the same apartment. Hermione shook her head, secretly pleased that he was so worried about her.

"You have your wand with you?" asked Steven. At any other time then this, it would have sounded like a stupid question.

"Yeah, sure. Why wouldn't I have my wand with me?" lied Hermione and she forced a laugh, "Well, I'll see you later,"

Just when she was about to leave, Steven had insisted that he gave her some money since she was robbed. Hermione thanked him again, and quickly left not looking at how much money he had given her. Her big concern was to make sure that he wouldn't notice how red her face was.

But as she made sure she was out of his sight, Hermione opened her dirty palm to see three galleons and two knuts. What in the world could she buy with 3 galleons and 2 Knuts?

_Malfoy won't be liking what I picked out for him. He'll be lucky if he even gets a shirt_, she thought to herself as she clutched her cloak tightly, walking against the cold wind.

(Author's Note: Yah!!! I'm so happy! I thought that I wouldn't have time to finish off this chapter since exams are coming up and I have so much stuff to do, but I couldn't help it. So here is chapter 5!!! As you can see Hermione's got a little crush. He'll be around a little bit in the story. So love to hear those reviews!!! I don't know if I'll be able to post another chapter until febuary but could depend on the reviews I get too hint hint.)


	6. A Yellow Pokka Dot Dress

Cursed

(Author's Note: I want to say thank you to all my reviewers! Got the title from that song where it goes "she had an itsy tiny winy yellow poka dot bikini"… okay you can ignore me and continue on with the story…)

Chapter 6- A Yellow Pokka Dot Dress

After what felt like hours in the cold and miserable weather, Hermione finally spotted an old clothing store between two groceries that strongly smelled of fish. Feeling like she would freeze on the spot if she stayed outside any longer, Hermione forced her sore legs to move.

She opened the door to the small store, not exactly sure as what to expect.

"Malfoy will go crazy if he could see me now," said Hermione to herself imagining Draco gaping at her in horror. He would of course demand what in the world she was doing in such a _dreadful Muggle_ looking store.

"Surely he didn't expect me to buy him silk shirts and ties," she said still talking to herself, not aware that a middle aged woman with very large glasses was standing right behind her.

"May I help you dear?" asked the woman loudly, getting Hermione's attention. Hermione jumped in surprise. She hadn't heard the woman come behind her.

"I'm just looking around," said Hermione smiling at the woman.

"Well, if you need any help, you just call that young man there," said the woman. She pointed at a young teenage boy around the age of fifteen, who was glumly sweeping the other side of the store.

Hermione nodded and looked around her surroundings. She could tell that the place was old. The old pink wallpaper that used to be hot pink was falling off the walls to reveal a horrible clash of green and orange strips. Old fashion clothes that Hermione didn't know anyone sold were hanged under signs reading, "Buy one and get a second for free!" or "50 off."

"I can see why," she muttered to herself as she picked up a white blouse, ruffles on the front and at the end of the sleeves.

_Didn't pirates use to wear these in the fifteen-century?_ Thought Hermione as she hanged the white blouse back to its place.

She looked down at her right hand to count the money again. She hoped that she had counted wrong. But no, they're sat three galleons and two knuts, no more no less. Her attention was diverted when she saw her hand. The mere sight made her wince. Her usual light cream skin was black and purple and her knuckles swollen. It was the exact spot where Hermione had hit the man only twenty minutes ago. It was still throbbing with pain.

"His face is hard as metal," whimpered Hermione to no one in particular.

She was mentally hitting herself for not asking Steven to heal her hand but then again she didn't want him to worry. So she had carefully hid her hand out of view, wanting to get away from that embarrassing scene as soon as possible.

_My first punch, _she thought smiling slightly, feeling pride swell in her_. And Steven was so kind to heal my knee and lip._

Without realizing it, Hermione let out a sigh, remembering the concern and sincere look Steven had given her. She got an odd look from the teenager who was passing her by to throw out the garbage. When he returned, he found the bushy hair woman still sighing, a dazed look on her face.

"Are you going to buy anything?" he snapped darkly. Hermione blushed when she saw the teenage boy staring at her.

"Yes I am. That's why I'm here," she snapped back, the annoyance she was feeling reflecting on her face. The boy scowled back and walked gloomily to another corner to sort out clothes.

"What a depressed kid," she muttered to herself, eyeing him still. Then she got an idea.

"Hey you," she called out to the boy, "I need your opinion on something,"

Meanwhile, Draco was silently swearing under his breath, growing tired and impatient. He had been leaning against the wall for what seemed forever.

_Why must I be punished and listen to these low lives battered about their low lives problems? _He thought angrily.

Although he wouldn't dare admit it out loud (because walls had ears of course), he honestly wouldn't mind transforming into a cow. The idea of chasing the two screaming old ladies was quite comical and even brought a small smile to his face.

"Granger wouldn't have left me, I have her wand," he whispered to himself.

Nonetheless he couldn't believe to situation he was in. _He_, Draco Malfoy, was trusting _her_, "Miss Banshee" (since that became her new nickname) on buying clothes.

_Why did I do that? Longbottom would be a Potion Master before Granger would ever find anything decent to wear_, he thought. _She doesn't wear any good clothes for women, so how in the world would she find anything good in men's'?_

"Amanda, let's go," said the second voice and to Draco's amazement, the woman called Amanda agreed. Draco could only hear their footsteps walking away then nothing.

"Would you look at that. Guess some Muggles do have some sense after all," he said to himself.

Finding no good reason to glue himself to the door any longer, Draco walked to the sink, making sure that he didn't touch anything.

"Oh for crying out loud I look as good as Weasley," he cried in horror, staring at his hair. He then began to occupy himself by brushing his blonde hair with his hands.

What else could he do during his spare time?

"Excuse me?" asked the teenage boy. By his expression, it was clear that he was either thinking this was a joke or that Hermione was insane. By the looks of it, it wasn't his free will to get the job and he would never buy anything in this store for anybody.

"You're a guy, right? So, what kind of clothes do you like in this store?" repeated Hermione, feeling herself blush, "I need some help to buy some clothes for a…friend,"

The boy gave Hermione another odd expression and Hermione couldn't blame him. She spat the word friend as though it was a dirty word.

There was also the fact that she was asking him to find any decent clothes in the store.

"Um…well I've show you some clothes here," said the boy, pointing to his right. He began walking, muttering under his breath saying how life was unfair, while Hermione followed.

She stopped suddenly as something caught her eye. There it was. A yellow pokka dot dress.

"I'll take this," said Hermione, grabbing the dress as though someone behind her was going to snatch it from her hands.

How could she resist? It was like fate was on her side now, all the ill luck disappearing.

"I thought you wanted to see some men clothing," said the teenage boy confused.

"No, this is perfect," said Hermione brightly, showing the old dress. "The boy slowly nodded though it was clear he did not understand at all.

"Um…do you still want to see the men's clothing? Or try it on?" he asked incertain.

"No, I'd like to buy this please," replied Hermione happily.

With raised eyebrows, the teenage boy grabbed the dress from Hermione and walked to the cashier desk. Punching a few red buttons, a receipt came out. The teenager grabbed it and stuffed the dress and the receipt in a large bag. Hermione stared at the bag that had a picture of a kitten playing with a ball.

_They put that on their bags?_ She thought.

"That would be five galleons please," said the boy. Hermione blushed, cursing under her breath (suddenly becoming a habit).

"But didn't it say on the sign buy one and get one free?" asked Hermione innocently. The boy stared at her incredously.

"I'll be right back," she said and dashed to the area where the men's clothing could be found. A few seconds later, she came back holding a brown suit covered in dust.

"Alright then. Would that be all?" asked the teenager impatiently. It was clear that he wanted her to leave as quickly as possible.

Hermione nodded and gave him her three galleons and two knuts. Immediately seeing that she didn't have enough, a large evil smile spread across the boy's face.

"Sorry, don't have enough money, can't buy anything," he said and grabbed the bag from Hermione.

Hermione held on to it firmly, sending the teenage boy a death glare.

"You don't have enough money. You can't buy anything," stated the boy trying to snatch the bag from her hands.

Five minutes later, Hermione was walking happily down the street. Her mood had lifted considerably.

_At least I won one fight_, she thought remembering how she had threatened to change the boy's brown hair pink(even though she didn't have her wand). After that, he seemed quite eager for her to leave with the bag. _If I keep this up, I'll be as bad as Malfoy._

Thinking about the blond man who was surely waiting patiently for her return, broaden Hermione's smile.

_I got a surprise for you Malfoy_, she thought.

"She wore an itsy bitsy tiny winy yellow pokka dot bikini," sang Hermione, swinging her bag back and forth.

(Author's Note: Ah, the wonderful feeling of finishing my exams!!! Now I have so much more time on my hands. Before I update another chapter, I have to post a few chapters on my other story which I sadly haven't update for months. But reviews are always appreciated!)


	7. Over The Line, Part 1

Title: Cursed

Chapter 7- Over The Line

(Author's Note: Who went over the line this time? Hermione…or Draco? You'll find out!)

The door leading inside the woman's bathroom swung open, startling Draco. He turned away from his reflection and stared at the person who had calming walked in.

"About time," he snapped heatedly, the impatience and anger coming back.

He was about to comment on her hair, just to annoy the heck out of her (but mostly so that he could feel better) but stopped. There was a ghost of a smile playing on her pink lips and Draco knew that it was not a good sign.

"Well, are you going to show me what you bought or are you going to stand there like an idiot?" he asked, crossing his arms over his bare chest.

While Hermione had taken her sweet time shopping (while getting almost robbed), Draco had managed to make a squirt out of the scattered pieces of his clothing. It thankfully reached to his knees but he felt ridiculous nonetheless.

"Yes, I actually do have something for you _Draco_," said Hermione.

Draco stared at Hermione in shock.

_Did she just call me by my first name?!_ He thought thunderstruck. Seeing Draco's dramatic reaction, Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"It's not like the earth is going to explode," she said, grinning slightly.

Without another word, she gave him the bag. Staring at her suspiciously, Draco grabbed the bag from her hands. The picture of the kitten playing with a ball caught Draco's eye and he stared at it in horror.

"Please tell me that I'm hallucinating," he said in disbelief.

"What are you talking about?" asked Hermione with fake innocent.

_Oh don't even try to be smart with me Banshee_, he thought to himself. _No one outsmarts a Malfoy!_

"What kind of store did you go to Granger? Did you go to the homeless shelter of some sort?" questioned Draco angrily.

Before Hermione could reply, Draco looked inside and grabbed the two clothing out. Although Hermione had always thought that Draco had a pale complexion, she could see that his face had become death white.

It seemed that time had stopped for quite some time. Draco didn't move a muscle, his eyes transfixed on the clothing he was holding tightly.

"What in the name of Merlin is this?" he hissed, his eyes never leaving the pokka dot dress.

"It's clothing Malfoy and it's for you," said Hermione calmly while silently trying to hold in her laughter. Taking another deep breath, Hermione secretly hoped that she was giving him a serious expression.

"What happened to the money that I gave you?" he cried angrily, his gray eyes flashing dangerously.

Hermione took a step back, surprised at his sudden reaction. Sure she had suspected that he would get very mad but never this. She had been waiting for a temper that usually came out of a child for not being able to eat candy. But the look he was giving her right now frightened her.

_Should I tell him the truth?_ She wondered, studying his face as though that would help with her decision.

"What happened to the money that I gave you?" he repeated again, his voice booming off the walls.

"I was robbed," said Hermione quietly. She suddenly remembered the man's hand on her mouth, muffling her screams for help.

Draco stared at her hard and suddenly looked away, snorting.

"Sure, sure Mudblood. Don't even try to lie to me. Now tell me the truth," he said, looking back at her, his expression hard.

"I'm telling the truth," said Hermione angrily. The laughter that she had been keeping in for some time died.

"Yeah right. Like anybody would even want to rob you. Just one look at your face and they'd run the other way," muttered Draco to himself, but Hermione heard every single word that he said.

Tears welled in her brown eyes, reflecting the hurt and anger she was feeling at the moment.

_I can't believe him. How dare he say a thing like that!_ She thought outraged, her hands clenched into fists.

"Excuse me? You should be grateful that I even bough you clothes in the first place," she said furiously. Many ideas of hurting Draco at that moment were very urging for Hermione.

"What would you have done? I have your wand, don't I?" reminded Draco with a ugly sneer on his face.

Hermione bit back her retort. She had momentarily forgotten that she was missing her wand and there it was, clutched tightly in Draco's hand.

"Malfoy, give it to me now. I held the end of the deal," said Hermione, trying her best to calm down.

"Ha, Mudblood, don't make me laugh. I'm the one who's going to be giving the orders around here. Understood?" asked Draco.

He swung Hermione's wand back and forth in front of Hermione's face. Hermione glared at him, wishing that she could curse him to the next century.

"What are you going to do now?" he asked in a mocking tone. Hermione's eyes followed Draco's hand. She bit her lip, wondering if she would be fast enough to grab it right out of his hand.

_Well, I'm just going to have to try_, she thought to herself.

As fast as she could, Hermione snatched the wand from Draco's grasp. Hermione silently laughed at Draco's shocked expression, seeing Hermione pointing her wand directly to his face.

"What are you going to do now?" she asked, repeating the words that Draco had said only seconds ago.

But there stood Draco, calm and relaxed, a smirk replacing his shocked expression. He shook his head as though he was finding the whole thing entertaining.

"What's so funny?" asked Hermione eyeing Draco suspiciously.

Still shaking his head, Draco grabbed something from his pocket (which he made while he was waiting). Holding it out, Hermione saw that it was another wand. _Her_ wand.

_Oh crap_, she thought to herself.

"You see Granger, you can't outsmart me. Now look at the situation you got yourself into. First of all, you don't even have your wand while you wouldn't be able to jinx or curse me with mine. Unlike yours, by the looks of it, my wand obeys only me. Basically to you, it's a stick," explained Draco, looking ever so smug.

Hermione blush a dark red and muttered something under her breath. Draco took another step closer, their noses almost touching.

Then, in a simple and fast movement that spoke volumes, Draco snapped Hermione's wand in half.

(Author's Note: BUM, BUM, BUUUUUUUM! How did you guys like that cliffhanger there? I had a lot of fun with that! One thing I would like to explain is why I haven't been updating for a while. My family and me had been having some very serious problems (my aunt was in the hospital, some woman was suing my dad for something he didn't do….) and it took a lot of my time. I hardly even got to touch the computer for so long. But now everything is finally back to normal and I have FREE TIME. Free time equals more chapters for Cursed! So I just want to say thank you for being really patient with me! Anyways, please review!!!

Blue sapphire lady

p.s oh yeah, I almost forgot to give you guys a teaser…

"You. Broke. My. Wand," said Hermione barely over a whisper.

Draco took a step back, suddenly feeling uneasy.

"Well then, I'm going to have to break yours," hissed Hermione furiously.

Tadah! Well until next time.

p.s.s- it's really kind of random, but next time I'll update, I'll be 16!!!!! My birthday is the 28…okay I'll stop writing.)


	8. Over The Line, Part 2

Title: Cursed

Previously on chapter 7- Over The Line Part 1…

"You see Granger, you can't outsmart me. Now look at the situation you got yourself into. First of all, you don't even have your wand while you wouldn't be able to jinx or curse me with mine. Unlike yours, by the looks of it, my wand obeys only me. Basically to you, it's a stick," explained Draco, looking ever so smug.

Hermione blush a dark red and muttered something under her breath. Draco took another step closer, their noses almost touching.

Then, in a simple and fast movement that spoke volumes, Draco snapped Hermione's wand in half.

Chapter 8- Over The Line, Part 2

It took quite some time for Hermione to digest what she had just saw. She stood still as a statue, only her eyes moving, followed her wand fall to the ground in two pieces.

Hermione didn't know how much time passed but she never tore her eyes away from her broken wand. It might have been only a few seconds or minutes but it definitely felt like time had stopped altogether.

Suddenly, Hermione felt such a rage, such a fury that she never felt before. It was as if something inside of her had instantly snapped, losing all her common sense and reasonability.

Her hands that stood by her sides, suddenly clenched tightly into fists. Slowly, Hermione raised her head, her angry eyes locked into Draco's. Draco stared back, a ghost of a smirk playing on his lips. Not either of them blinked, talked, or made any movement. It was like there was a no blinking contest between the two. The longer Hermione stood still, staring at Draco, the wider Draco's smirk became.

Hermione was sure that she hadn't felt this mad for a very long time. There were honestly very few things that made her lose her temper. Most people considered her, without doubt, a person with utmost responsibility.

But all Hermione was thinking about was the memories she had with that wand. That wand had connected her to the Wizarding World, letting her cast spells, curses and jinxes. Moore than six years ago, that wand had chosen her as the owner and Hermione still remembered the pride she felt when she first held it. Her very first wand and it lay broken by her feet.

And to see Draco _smirking_ at her as if he had just won a major victory made Hermione's anger boil.

_Who does he honestly think he is, to go as far as breaking my wand?! _She thought.

Unable to contain herself, Hermione felt tears well in her eyes. But she didn't lose the eye contact.

"How could you do such a thing? What are you, an animal?" screamed Hermione so suddenly that Draco jumped in surprise.

"Excuse me?" asked Draco, raising one eyebrow.

"I said, how could you do such a thing. What is wrong with you? Do you think you're playing games here?" Hermione continued to yell as loud as she could.

She bravely stepped forward until she was almost nose-to-nose with Draco. Draco, who didn't move an inch, stared undisturbed back at her. This only angered Hermione even more.

"You are a foul, disgusting, idiotic excuse of a human being," she screamed at the top of her lungs, not caring at the small distance separating her and Draco.

Draco instantly put his hands to his ears, a look of pure annoyance on his features.

"For crying out loud woman, shut up! Are you trying to make me deaf?" cried Draco irritably.

_Of course he doesn't care about other people feelings. Especially mine_, thought Hermione.

"You. Broke. My. Wand," said Hermione barely over a whisper.

Draco took a step back, suddenly feeling uneasy.

Then, all of a sudden, Hermione had a brilliant idea.

"Well then, since it seems that you're not feeling that regretful, I guess I'll have to do this. I'll just break yours," hissed Hermione furiously.

Draco's eyes widened in realization then horror.

"You stop right there, Mudblood, before you get into some serious trouble," said Draco, trying in vain to grab his wand back.

Hermione took a step back, holding firmly Draco's wand in both of her hands.

"I might not be able to do a spell or a jinx or a curse but I certainly can break it," she said, grinning evilly at him.

_I never knew that revenge was so sweet. I should do this more often_, Hermione thought, loving the sensation she was feeling at the moment.

"Mudblood-"

But it was too late. Hermione brought Draco's wand down on her knee. With one loud crack, it split in two pieces. It was now Draco's turn to stare at the pieces lying on the ground, that only a few seconds ago, was his wand.

Without any hesitation, Hermione grabbed her broken wand and the two pieces of clothing she bought at the store. Draco, too shock to notice what was going on, picked up his broken wand.

"Well, that's that. I hope I never see you again Malfoy," spat Hermione angrily and without another word, opened the door. She left the bathroom without a seocond look back, the door slamming behind her.

It actually took Draco a few seconds for him to realize that she had left. Anger swelled inside of him and he loudly cursed. He cursed at every single thing he saw, over and over again.

"If Granger thinks that she's going to get away with that, she has a big surprise waiting for her," said Draco out loud to himself.

Ad that's when Draco Malfoy began to scheme up plans to ruin Hermione's life. Little did Hermione know, that the two would be seeing each other very soon…

(Author's Note: Thank you very much for the people who reviewed! For someone like me who usually (unfortunately) updates once a month, I did pretty good. I updated a week later.

I must say that I would be pretty mad as well if someone broke my wand. Anyways, great news, in the next chapter, there will a different location!!! I'm pretty sure that there were certain of you that were getting a little annoyed and disgusted with the bathroom and I honestly can say that I don't blame you! Well, please review? If I get five reviews for this chapter, I'll update this week, I promise. You know, worth a shot right?

Anyways, here's your little teaser…

(chapter 9- The New Guy)

"Hermione, you will not believe the amazing news I have for you!" shouted Jessica excitedly, bouncing up and down.

Hermione sighed and placed a bookmark on the page she was reading. Usually, Hermione had found out, if Jessica was really excited about something, she didn't necessarily stopped talking.

"What is it?" she asked uninterested.

She was getting at the good part of her book too…

"This new guy just came over. He's going to be living in this apartment," squealed Jessica.

"So what?" asked Hermione impatiently.

She really did want to start reading…

"What do you mean so what? He's super hot, that's what. I think his name his Drake something," said Jessica thoughtfully.

"That's nice," said Hermione absentmindedly. She had lost interest and stopped listening the moment Jessica started talking about what a "hottie" the new guy was.

**End of teaser.** Wow, a little bit longer than usual too. I bet you guys can guess who's the new guy. If you can't, maybe I wasn't as clear as I thought. Chow.

Blue sapphire lady)


	9. Home Sweet Home

Title: Cursed

Previously on chapter 8- Over The Line, Part 2…

It actually took Draco a few seconds for him to realize that she had left. Anger swelled inside of him and he loudly cursed. He cursed at every single thing he saw, over and over again.

"If Granger thinks that she's going to get away with that, she has a big surprise waiting for her," said Draco out loud to himself.

Ad that's when Draco Malfoy began to scheme up plans to ruin Hermione's life. Little did Hermione know, that the two would be seeing each other very soon…

Chapter 9- The New Guy

"I did it," whispered Hermione to herself as she closed the door behind her. She sighed happily, finally feeling secure and safe.

_I never thought I'd miss this place_, she thought, grinning slightly.

But it felt as if Hermione hadn't entered her apartment for years although it was realistically only a few hours. She was home and she wasn't planning on leaving any time soon.

"Home sweet home," she sang happily.

Everything was in its usual place. Hermione was even glad to see

"I'll get a new wand tomorrow," she said, yawning slightly.

She was tired and she wanted to forget that she even saw Draco Malfoy today. Because the moment she saw that person, her day went good to bad to worse. Hermione half hoped that it was all a dream and she was going to wake up to her roommate's loud music.

_Now I can rest in peace_, she thought as she fell ungracefully on the couch, closing her eyes.

It only took a few seconds until Hermione was snoring lightly on her couch.

Fifteen minutes later, Hermione heard the door slam loudly and she frowned.

_Please be quiet. Just let me sleep for five more minutes,_ she silently begged.

Hermione felt the couch suddenly move, almost knocking her to the ground.

_Oh no_, she thought, groaning. _Not now._

She heard that familiar feminine giggle and the low voice of a male. Hermione, still frowning, blindly grabbed two pillows and pressed them against her ears. She definitely didn't want to hear the passionate moaning and groaning of two people kissing.

_Honestly, her room is only ten steps away from here_, thought Hermione, feeling annoyed. _What kind of day is this?_

Just when she decided to ignore the very rude people who were intruding her nap, Hermione gave a huge yelp of surprise. It felt like a heavy object had fallen on top of her

"What in the world is going on?" said Hermione, her voice barely over a whisper. Her breath was knocked out of her.

She opened her eyes to see that it was her roommate and good friend Jessica, lip locked with her boyfriend of two years, Joey. Seeing that her friend and her friend's boyfriend on top of her and the couch without even noticing, Hermione snapped.

"Go get a room you sick perverts. What are you, fifteen years old?" screeched Hermione, having enough.

She started to repeatedly hit the two with the two pillows she had used to block out all the noise. The two broke apart, looking more startled than angry at being interrupted. Seeing that Hermione, red in the face from yelling, was underneath them, Jessica and Joey immediately got up. They gave her an apologetic smile.

"Sorry Hermione, I didn't see you there," commented Jessica, laughing nervously as she quickly buttoned up her shirt.

_Oh I'm sure you're very sorry,_ thought Hermione furiously.

If death could kill, Jessica would have been dead a long time ago, following her boyfriend.

Joey was less apologetic and embarrassed than the laughing Jessica, who had finished buttoning her shirt and went to the kitchen to grab something to eat. He grinned cheekily at Hermione, who was glaring back.

"Sometimes we just don't see you Herms," aid Joey laughing, not even bothering to apologize like Jessica had.

Hermione deepened her frowned, certainly not expecting Joey to say that. True, she could hardly expect anything from Joey because she'd usually get the opposite but this was too much. Plus she was sure that she must have told Joey more than a dozen of times not to call her "Herms". It always reminded her of a disease of some sort.

"I'm sure you wouldn't have noticed if an axe murderer was waiting for you instead," retorted Hermione angrily, crossing her arms over her chest.

She had moved to the apartment a year ago and her close friend Jessica came only four months ago. Peace was becoming very rare in the apartment, as neighbors would knock on her door three in the morning asking if she had any milk or butter left. First Jessica went on a shopping spree when she didn't have enough money to pay for all those clothes. Then a robber came a month ago, taking one of the couches and a lot of money with him (Hermione always wondered why he wanted the couch) and couldn't pay rent. That became the number one reason why the two girls were avoiding the owner Mr. Brull, who unfortunately had a crush on Hermione. And now this.

Jessica's boyfriend, John. The minute she was introduced to him by Jessica, she couldn't help but disapprove of him. It was just something about him that she didn't like. But Jessica was unfortunately heels over him. The two were madly in love, waking up in the middle of the night to write letters to each other when they only live a floor down.

And then there were the nicknames. Cutie, Pukiepie, Cuddlebear, Lovey Dovey Movey, Squiggling Miggley Monkey. Hermione had always walked father away from the two whenever they were walking in public. She absolutely did not want to be seen with them. But Hermione thought, the worse of all was when they would say their "bitter sweet good byes" to each other. The two lovebirds would always say Meow instead of saying goodbye. They saw each other every other day. Jessica thought it wasn't enough. Hermione thought quite the opposite.

Joey, his shirt somewhere lost on the ground, shrugged his shoulders and picked up an apple by a nearby table. He began munching on it, the loud noisy sound irritating Hermione to no end. She just couldn't remember what she had wanted to say as she watched the juice and spit fly from Joey's mouth.

_Is it too much to ask? Can't he put a shirt on?_ Thought Hermione.

The problem wasn't that Joey was fit. Oh no, that was the complete opposite. Strong and well build muscles, Joey looked like a Greek god (not that Hermione was looking…).

Jessica entered the living room, greedily eating the last éclair Hermione had backed.

Hermione really didn't know what started it all. Maybe it was the fact that she had met Draco Malfoy in one of the most disgusting bathroom known to man. Or maybe it was because she was robbed and her crush had seen her on the ground, being attacked by a complete stranger. Or even it might be that her only wand was broken, lying on the coffee table. Or maybe the interruption of her privacy by two love birds who couldn't stay away from each other for one day.

But Hermione had had enough. Standing up, Hermione yanked the apple away from Joey's grasp, ignoring his surprised expression.

"Get out! Whenever you're here, there's never one second of peace around here. Get out!" ordered Hermione.

She swiftly walked to the door, with a determined look but slipped on Joey's colorful shirt. Red as a tomato, Hermione quietly got up, muttering an "I'm all right." She continued to walk to the door, and pulled the doorknob. Swinging the door wide open, Hermione pointed at Joey then at the hallway.

"All right Herms, no sweat," muttered Joey and walked towards the door.

Hermione slammed the door as soon as Joey had stepped into the hallway. Two seconds later, there was a quiet and rather hesitant knock on the door.

At first Hermione had decided to ignore it until he left. But the look Jessica was making towards her direction made Hermione turn the doorknob once more.

"What?" she snarled at him angrily.

"If it's alright, can I have my shirt?" he asked, pointing to the shirt that was still lying on the ground.

Hermione blushed once more.

_Idiot,_ she thought, mentally slapping herself for forgetting such an important.

She must have been really mad to order a bare chest man around twenty five leave her apartment.

"Here you go," muttered Hermione, throwing Joey's shirt to his face. She then slammed the door again.

"Hermione, are you all right?" asked Jessica, with concern as Hermione turned around to face her.

_Oh no, you're not going to give me the fake concerned look, _thought Hermione.

"Yes, never felt better," said Hermione tightly.

"Are you going to eat that or throw it out?" asked Jessica randomly.

It actually Hermione some time for her to realize that Jessica was talking about the green apple she had stolen from Joey. Rolling her eyes, Hermione opened the door.

"Joey!" she yelled to the empty hallway.

_I'll give him ten seconds_, thought Hermione, tapping her foot.

And sure enough, Joey turned up, his shirt hung over his shoulder, too lazy to actually put it on him.

"Yeah? Want me to come in?" asked Joey hopefully, with what he thought was an innocent expression, "I promise I'll be good,"

In response, Hermione threw the apple at him and closed the door.

Without a single word to Jessica, who was staring at her open mouthed, Hermione walked into her bedroom and fell on the bed. This time, she closed her eyes and slept peacefully, a small evil smile on her face.

_What has gotten into her?_ She seems to be more upset than usual, thought Jessica thoughtfully, watching her good but tired friend sleeping. _Well, I'm going to find out, that's for sure._

"Better go visit Joey since he can't come here," said Jessica out loud and left the apartment unlocked…as usual.

Draco had to admit it. He was a genius. His plan was going brilliantly well, no flaws or problems. But of course, the sole reason was because he _was_ Draco Malfoy. There _was _no other explanation. Duh.

Strutting over to his new home, he couldn't help but smirk as the young women started giggling and blushing when he came their way.

_Yes, I think I'm going to be enjoying myself very much. Great ready Granger, _he thought wickedly as he ordered the house elves to bring his belongings upstairs.

Passing by the giggling women, Draco gave them a small wink. One woman, with long blonde hair was brave enough to wink back.

"Why didn't I move here a while ago? I think I'll be staying here longer than usual," mused Draco as he walked up the stairs.

_Wonder what's Granger's door number?_ He thought, interested by the thought.

Meanwhile, Hermione, content and most importantly, _calm _after a three hour nap, stretched. The events of what happened earlier that day, concerning particularly with Jessica and Joey flooded into Hermione's mind. A sudden felling of guilt washed over her and Hermione sat down on her bed.

"I think that I was too rough on her," muttered Hermione to the poster of her favorite singers.

She walked in the living room. There she found Jessica flipping through her latest fashion magazines. The moment Jessica heard Hermione enter the living room, she threw the fashion magazine on the ground, a huge grin on her face. Hermione raised her eyebrow in question. It was rare that she ever saw Jessica this excited to actually throw her fashion magazine.

Hermione cautiously sat down on the couch, wondering what made Jessica this happy. Knowing Jessica, it was always best to expect…nothing. Her personality was always wild and her choices only made sense to Jessica and no one else. Hermione grabbed a book that was lying beside her broken wand and began reading.

"Hermione, you will not believe the amazing news I have for you!" shouted Jessica excitedly, bouncing up and down on the couch.

Hermione sighed and placed a bookmark on the page she was reading. The guilt she had felt only moments before was now gone.

Usually, Hermione had found out, if Jessica was really excited about something, she didn't necessarily stopped talking.

"What is it?" she asked uninterested.

Hermione had been waiting to read this book for so long…

"This new guy just came over. He's going to be living in this apartment," squealed Jessica.

"So what?" asked Hermione impatiently.

She really did want to start reading…

"What do you mean so what? He's super hot, that's what. I think his name his Drake something. I heard him talking to a couple of girls. And he's _rich_," said Jessica thoughtfully.

"That's nice," said Hermione absentmindedly.

She had lost interest and stopped listening the moment Jessica started talking about what a "hottie" the new guy was.

"How are you not interested?" asked Jessica, shocked by her best friend's behavior.

"How are you interested?" asked Hermione, with a raised eyebrow, "Is Joey that easily to forget?"

Jessica blushed and muttered something under her breath.

"Sorry, didn't catch that," said Hermione grinning.

"Oh come on Hermione," said Jessica finally, "It's not like I can't _look_,"

"I'll never understand you. You don't have time to do important things but you have time to check out "hot guys"?" asked Hermione in disbelief, shaking her head.

"Yes," answered Jessica.

She was about to persuade Hermione into being more feminine (one of those conversation that Jessica had the most fun) when the two heard a knock on the door.

"Wonder who that could be?" asked Hermione dropping her book once more.

Seeing that Jessica wasn't making any movement to get up and open the door, Hermione stood up. She was expecting two people, Joey or the porn man(learn in the next chapter).

(Author's Note: Isn't this the longest chapter yet? It's more than two thousand words! Impressive, no? So how do you guys like my new character Jessica? Remind you of anyone? You'll be seeing Jessica a lot from now on and maybe a little bit of Steven as well. If you guys hate Joey, I'm sorry, I love him. Reminds me so much of a certain person.

Teaser, ladies and gentlemen, of chapter ten…

"I'll make a list of things to do this month," she said to herself. She began to write furiously on the parchment until five minutes later she dropped the quill. Rubbing her tired wrist. She reread the parchment sitting on her lap. It read:

Important Things To Do This Month

1.Pay rent for October( praying on a miracle at the moment)

2.Buy a birthday present for Jess.

3.Draw Malfoy a picture of a cow in a short poka dot dress for a Christmas present

4.Pay rent for last month (somehow)

5. Make Joey and Jess break up because Joey keeps coming in the middle of the night and eats all my food.

6.Pay rent for this month (wish I could pay with Monopoly money…)

7.Tell Mr. Brull that I'm not interested in marrying him (why would I marry a fifty-year-old man??? Harry and Ron would die of laughter hearing that and Malfoy…I don't even want to think about that!)

8. Kick Malfoy out of the apartment (for good!)

9.Beat up Malfoy for breaking my wand

Hermione smiled in satisfaction at her list…

Don't you guys love Hermione's list? As you can probably guess, Hermione will find out in the next chapter that Draco's in the same apartment as her. Love to hear those reviews (and big thank you's to everyone who reviewed, I didn't forget).

Blue sapphire lady)


	10. Running Away

Title: Cursed

Chapter 10- Running Away

It didn't take as long to open the door since the locks that Hermione had bought weren't locked. Before opening the door, Hermione threw Jessica a disapproving look. How many times did she have to tell her to _lock _the door after she left? Hermione certainly didn't buy six complicated and rather expensive (Jessica's opinion, not hers) locks for nothing. Jessica merely rolled her eyes at her friend's "paranoia" of strangers entering inside their home, her arms crossed over her chest.

Hermione turned around, not bothering to look through the peephole. An immature person, Hermione was still trying to figure out who, had charmed a piece of blue gum on their peephole. With that done, it was actually impossible to see anything through it as you'd obviously only see the color blue.

When Hermione opened the door, to her surprise, it wasn't Joey saying he forgot his shoes or the porn man. It wasn't even the old lady asking about her missing cats. Standing in front of her was none other than the owner of the apartment, Mr.Brull.

Instinct told Hermione to close the door there and then and that was exactly what she did. She didn't really mean to _slam_ it in his face but she couldn't help it. Seeing Mr. Brull in front of their door could only mean one thing. And that one thing was rent.

"Oh crap," said Hermione, her back against the door.

Her heart was beating unusually fast, although she wasn't surprised.

"Who was it? The boogey man?" asked Jessica, laughing lightly before adding, "Or was it an ex-boyfriend?"

"It's Mr. Brull," hissed Hermione urgently.

With those three words, the playful smiled that played on Jessica's lips disappeared in an instant.

"Make something up! Say that you got robbed or something," Jessica whispered, a panic-stricken look on her face.

_Wonder what she would say if I told her that was true?_ Wondered Hermione bitterly.

Hermione and Jessica had moved to the apartment a little bit over a year ago. Hermione soon found out that peace and privacy was something very rare in the apartment. Neighbors or people from different levels would casually knock on her door three in the morning asking if she had any milk or butter left.

At first Hermione couldn't sleep through all the knocking on the door. In the morning she would grumpy and edgy, snapping at the smallest things. That is, until finally Hermione had gotten used to it, and of course added a sign with a small threat on it.

Everything was going well, they had enough money to pay for rent. That is, until a series of unfortunate events had happened.

First, Jessica went on a shopping spree when she didn't have enough money to pay for all the expensive clothes. Furious as she was, Hermione eventually help pay all the debts her shopaholic friend had received.

Shortly after that, a robber came around five months ago, taking one of their new couches and a lot of money with him (Hermione always wondered why he wanted the couch and how he managed to bring it with him unnoticed…) and couldn't pay rent. That became the number one reason why the two girls were avoiding the owner Mr. Brull. To make matters even worse, Mr. Brull had an obvious crush on Hermione. Jessica, Joey, Harry and Ron had found this unusual news hilarious and teased her non-stop.

"Why don't you talk to him? I'm always the one who has to make an excuse," said Hermione, stating this annoying fact.

"Hermy, he likes you. I mean really really really likes you," replied Jessica. She moved to the side, blocking Hermione's way to the kitchen.

Mumbling something incoherent under her breath, Hermione turned around and opened the door once more. Red in the face from embarrassment, she was once again face to face with Mr. Brull.

"Um…I'm really sorry about that. You see the…kettle was on and…" said Hermione lamely, not even bothering to finish her phrase.

She waved her hand but stopped when she saw that Mr. Brull was actually smiling.

Now Hermione was never the one to judge people solely from their looks. But she could not say truthfully that Mr. Brull was a decent looking man. He was ugly, _very_ ugly. He had small black eyes that were half hidden by his enormous bushy unibrow. He also had a large crooked nose, a small tight mouth and the pointiest chin Hermione and Jessica had ever seen. Whenever he would smile, it seemed that he was glaring at the person. And when he glared at the person…it seemed like he was glaring at the person.

Hermione sometimes wondered how she knew when Mr.Brull was smiling or not. She really had no idea…

"Quite alright Hermione-" began Mr.Brull.

"Miss Granger," interrupted Hermione.

Although she knew that she was being extremely rude, she just had to correct him. If she didn't do it now, Jessica would tell Joey and Joey will tell the porn man and the porn man will tell the cat lady…and it just continued until everyone in the apartment were saying that Hermione had a crush on Mr.Brull. Eventually Mr.Brull would hear the rumor himself and would none the wiser.

"Sorry Miss Granger," said Mr.Brull in a purring sort of voice that send shivers down her spine, "the reason I came here today was to talk about your rent,"

"Oh really," said Hermione, feigning interest.

She crossed her arms over her chest while her heart started to beat faster and faster.

_He's going to kick us out. I just know it. Today is the day that I will sleep in a dumpster_, thought Hermione, fighting the urge to cry_. My only companions at night will be rats…_

"Miss Granger? Is everything alright?" asked Mr. Brull with concern.

He lightly touched her arm but just that touch made Hermione take a step back in surprise.

"I didn't mean to frighten you but it seemed that you were a little…distressed," explained Mr.Brull.

"Fine. I'm perfectly fine," muttered Hermione.

Just as Mr.Brull was about to speak once again, Hermione had an idea.

"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to be somewhere. I think that it would be best if you talked about our rent with Jessica here," said Hermione politely.

She turned her head to give Jessica a silencing glare. Jessica muttered something about betrayal before mockingly waved towards the couch. Just before Hermione left, Jessica mouthed to her," you own me". Hermione simply grinned and closed the door behind her.

She was practically skipping down the hallway, extremely pleased with herself.

"Might as well check the mail," said Hermione out loud.

As she walked down the stairs, she saw for two elderly women who were also slowly making their way down the stairs. Seeing that there was no space to go through, Hermione patiently waited.

"Did you hear Amanda?" asked the first elderly woman who was wearing a pink hat with fake purple flowers.

"Oh what is it now Mary?" asked Amanda with a dramatic sigh.

Hermione couldn't help but roll her eyes. One thing she didn't need at the moment. Gossip between two old people, especially when they had nothing better to do than to walk around the apartment.

"Somebody new came in-and he's _rich_," said Amanda.

The two women burst into giggles. Hermione's patience was running thin. Just when she was deciding that they weren't really going anywhere (Hermione was trying to calculate to see if she could jump over the two) something in their conversation picked up her interest.

"I know, who would have thought it would be Draco Malfoy. Why would such a beautiful, handsome man like himself come into an apartment like this?" Mary asked, a twinkle of amusement in her eye.

Hearing this Hermione actually slipped on the step and fell down. She crashed down very ungracefully on the step and gave a surprised yell. The two elderly women behind her turned around to stare at Hermione with annoyance.

"Sorry," Hermione managed to say while wincing with pain.

The two ladies gave a "huff" and turned around to leave.

"I guess I should be expecting her to be eavesdropping. I mean, that sweet Joey just told me today that she was engaged to Mr. Brull. Little witch," Amanda said out loud.

_I can't believe this. I can't believe this. I can't believe this. He's here to ruin my life. He's going to tell everybody all the embarrassing things I had to do for him_, thought Hermione as she slowly got up.

She didn't know how long it took for her to enter inside her apartment (which was unlocked once again) but a shocked Hermione found herself on her couch.

_He's here_, thought Hermione angrily. _Why does that idiot have to live here?!_

"I'll make a list of things to do this month," she said to herself.

She began to write furiously on the parchment while swearing violently under her breath. Five minutes later she dropped her quill. Rubbing her tired wrist, she reread the parchment sitting on her lap. It read:

Important Things To Do This Month

1.Pay rent for October( praying on a miracle at the moment)

2.Buy a birthday present for Jess.

3.Draw Malfoy a picture of a cow in a short poka dot dress for a Christmas present

4.Pay rent for last month (somehow)

5. Make Joey and Jess break up because Joey keeps coming in the middle of the night pretending to be a robber (not funny!) and eats all my food.

6.Pay rent for this month (wish I could pay with Monopoly money…)

7. Tell Joey that I'm not interested in marrying Mr.Brull (why would I marry a fifty-year-old man??? Harry and Ron would die of laughter hearing that )

8. Kick Malfoy out of the apartment (for good!)

9.Beat up Malfoy for breaking my wand

10. Buy a wand

11. Hit Malfoy in the face just for the heck of it. (One more time!)

12. Curse Malfoy into the next century.

13. Then burn all his stuff.

14. Then pretend that the bathroom incident never happened.

Hermione smiled in satisfaction at her list. She half hoped that everyone had theirs facts messed up. There was just no way that Draco Malfoy would even dare step into this apartment. So how come everyone was saying that he was moving in?!

Author's Note: I know, I know, this is going incredibly slow but please forgive me. I know that this chapter was a little bit boring but just bear with me for a while. The two lovebirds will meet very soon, I promise you that! I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, you guys always brighten me day (I'm serious, I love reading your reviews). How far am I at writing the next chapter? About a quarter.

The teaser (as I'm sure that everyone just absolutely adores) of **chapter 11**! Yah!!!

Hermione felt like hitting something. Something hard. Something breakable. Like Draco Malfoy's face.

I know that it's short, I'm sorry but I don't want to give too much away.

p.s. if you'd like, you can check my new d/hr story called "Leaving And Coming Right Back", it's only three chapters long

blue sapphire lady)


	11. A Stroke Of Brilliance

Title: Cursed

Previously on chapter 10…

Hermione smiled in satisfaction at her list. She half hoped that everyone had theirs facts messed up. There was just no way that Draco Malfoy would even dare step into this apartment. So how come everyone was saying that he was moving in?!

Chapter 11- Stroke Of Brilliance

Hermione sighed.

She turned off the TV.

Then she sighed again.

Jessica, who was sitting on a rocking chair not far away, peered over her fashion magazine to stare at her friend. Hermione was sitting on the couch, her eyes wandering around the apartment.

Then she sighed, a depressed look on her face.

"Is there something wrong?" asked Jessica gently. It was pretty rare that she ever saw Hermione act like this. When Hermione wasn't reading at home, she was at a library reading or going to work. Bbut here she was, acting as though she was a prisoner in her own home.

"Hm?" asked Hermione, her eyes on the TV once more.

"Did something happen yesterday?" pressed Jessica. Hermione finally turned towards her friend's direction and shook her head.

"I'm fine. Perfectly fine. Why wouldn't I be fine? Everything is just fine," said Hermione in a monotone voice, her eyes glued to the black screen on the television. Jessica raised an eyebrow.

_What the heck is going on?_ she thought. _It's not like Hermione to act like that._

Jessica thought better of it and continued reading her fashion magazine.

_Maybe she met a guy or something,_ she thought, still trying to figure out her friend's weird behavior.

In a way, Jessica was partially right. The reason behind Hermione's sudden change of behavior was because of a guy. Not any guy, of course not. She was thinking about none other than Draco Malfoy and where he was in the apartment at that moment.

_I can't be at peace anymore. Just when I think that the ferret is finally out of my life, I find that he pops in here. I won't be able to go outside, in case I see him. Then what will I do_? thought Hermione, feeling trapped in a cage.

Hermione couldn't get the mail because she might bump into _him. _She couldn't throw the garbage outside because of _him. _She couldn't do anything anymore.

"Why me?" moaned Hermione in despair as she stood and threw her body on the couch. This time Jessica couldn't ignore her friend.

"Okay, what the hell is wrong with you? You're acting as if someone died. Did someone die?" asked Jessica suddenly, the idea making sense to her.

"No," came a muffled response from Hermione.

A bright idea suddenly popped in Jessica's head.

"Aww, Hermione. Are you in _love_?" asked Jessica slyly, raising her eyebrows up and down. At the word love, Hermione's head shot right up, an expression of shock on her face.

"Wow, calm down. Don't get a heart attack," teased Jessica.

"No-you have no idea, it's the farthest thing from love, I can tell you that much," insisted Hermione with such earnest on her face.

"Ooh, I get what you're saying. So it's _luv_ then?" asked Jessica. Hermione stared at her with a blank expression.

"What?" she asked after a short silence.

"You know, _luv_," said Jessica, slurring the word.

"What's the difference?" asked Hermione in annoyance. "Never have I heard someone refer it as _luv_."

"There's a huge difference. There's love and then there's luv," explained Jessica as though it was the simplest thing.

"Jessica, stop it. You're starting to sound like Joey," warned Hermione darkly, vividly remembering how the two old women were talking about Hermione being enganged to Mr. Brull.

_If he ever shows his face in this apartment, I'll_-thought Hermione but she was interrupted as there was a loud knock on the door.

Jessica resumed to reading her fashion magazine so Hermione got up from the couch and walked to the door.

_What if it's him_? She thought. What could she do? _He_ would be at an advantage because he knew exactly where she lived but she had no idea where he lived. Hermione's hand was in mid air, hesitating.

_Should I? Shouldn't I?_

"Usually when someone knocks, the person at the other side opens the door," said a male voice from the other side. Hermione scowled at the door, recognizing the voice to be Joey's.

"My baby's here," cried Jessica happily, throwing her magazine carelessly on the ground and running up to the door.

"Honeypoo?" called Joey.

"Munckin?" called Jessica.

"Barf bag?" suggested Hermione.

Jessica gave Hermione a glare as she opened the door to welcome her boyfriend inside. Hermione merely rolled her eyes as she turned to walk to the kitchen. One, because she didn't have enough energy to yell and scream and threatened Joey. And two, because she was hungry.

Hermione groaned, hearing them giggling and kissing.

"Can't they stop doing that for one whole day?" she muttered under her breath darkly as she grabbed a glass. Pouring milk into it, she glared at it a few good seconds, as though secretly blaming it for her horrible luck.

"I haven't seen you for so long," pouted Jessica. Hermione snorted.

"I know. Hey, did you know that some rid guy is living here? You should see all the stuff they're trying to fit inside his apartment. I saw a couple of guys trying to bring in _diamond chandeliers_," said Joey.

Hermione spat the milk out in surprise.

_He brought chandeliers? He is an idiot_, thought Hermione shaking her head.

That's when the most brilliant idea came to mind. Grinning like a madwoman, she slammed her glass on the counter and ran into her room.

"What's up with her?" asked Joey as the two stared at the running Hermione.

"I think she found out about that rumor you started about her being engaged to Mr. Brull," said Jessica thoughtfully.

_Or she's in __**luv**_, she thought, grinning, remembering their little conversation earlier. But she wouldn't tell Joey. Not now anyways. Because she was sure that Hermione wouldn't hesitate to strangle her boyfriend.

"Isn't that rumor a month old?" asked Joey.

"Oh yeah," remembered Jessica.

Hermione opened her wardrobe. She grabbed a black dress, a scarf, a very big sunhat with fake lilies all around and very large sunglasses that Ron had bough her a year ago for Christmas. In a matter of seconds, Hermione stripped from her baggy clothes and put on her black dress. She carefully hid all her hair in her sun hat (which she absolutely adored), wore her big sunglasses that hid her eyes and most of her nose, added the scarf around her waist and put on a pair of white gloves that were sitting on her bed.

"I'm going in," she said to herself. Shivers traveled through her body as she smiled to her reflection, liking what she saw. Nobody would know that it was actually her. That was the whole point.

_I feel like an agent_, she thought excitedly as she titled her hat to the side to give a "mysterious je ne sais quoi."

Hermione's plan was simple. She was going to knock on every single door in the apartment until she found Draco's door number. The beauty of it was that nobody would know her true identity. After she found out Draco's door number…well, she'd go back home.

Hermione opened the door and left her bedroom, slowly walking (in heels of course) to the door. Jessica and Joey, who were sitting on the couch, whispering sweet nothings to each other, stopped and stared.

"Hermione? Is that you?" asked Jessica after a long moment of silence.

"Yes, how did you know?" asked Hermione.

"Because you were in your bedroom a minute ago," she pointed out.

"Are you going to your meet Mr. B-Oww!" cried Joey as Jessica elbowed him in the stomach. She glared at him, a silent threat hanging in the air.

"Well, wherever you're going, have a nice time!" said Jessica cheerfully, turning to Hermione.

_I knew it! Hermione's finally going on a date! How amazing is this! I wish that I had a camera with me,_ thought Jessica as she gave Hermine an encouraging smile.

"Thanks," said Hermione as she continued walking.

"Yeah, have fun. By the way, which asylum are you going to?" asked Joey, grinning from ear to ear.

A pair of shoes that were sitting beside the door were suddenly in Hermione's hand. She chucked them straight at Joey's then turned and left, a satisfied smile on her face.

"I'm going to find where you live Draco Malfoy! Then I'm going to kick you out," she said as she walked down the corridor.

_Best to start off with the first floor. Who knows…_thought Hermione.

(Author's Note: Wow, it has been a very long time since I've updated! I'm so sorry! I've had so many ideas but the schoolwork was building up and I finally finished my exams this week! You guys have been so patient! But, summer has finally arrived! So I'll be able to update more often (I hope). So, do you think Hermione's plan will work? Will it fall to pieces? Find out in the next chapter!

Little teaser as usual for chapter 12 (wow, there have been a lot of chapters)…

A wicked smile played on her lips just thinking about.

_I am a genius_, she thought as she sneaked inside his bedroom. _Now where does Draco Malfoy put his underwear?_

See ya later (love some reviews!)

blue sapphire lady)


	12. A Woman With A Mission

Title: Cursed

(A/N: Thank you so much for the reviews, I really did enjoy them (not just saying that).Wow, I just finished the seventh book for Harry Potter the day I got it! What an intense read, I couldn't stop, I was reading the whole day. Sadly J.K. Rowling didn't make my wishes come true and Hermione and Draco weren't together. Although I'm really starting to like Ron/Hermione.)

Disclaimer: If I did own Harry Potter, I wouldn't need to beg for money from my parents to buy books (I love reading!)

Previously on chapter 11- A Stroke Of Brilliance…

"I'm going to find where you live Draco Malfoy! Then I'm going to kick you out," she said as she walked down the corridor.

_Best to start off with the first floor. Who knows…_thought Hermione.

Chapter 12- A Woman With A Mission

_I am a woman with a mission_, Hermione thought.

She liked the sound of it very much. Hermione could know seriously understand why the eighty three year old woman living two floors above loved spying on people, her handy pencil, paper, cane and magnifying glass always with her.

Hermione slowed her pace when she heard footsteps approaching.

_Ooh, time to test myself_, she thought excited as she straightened her slightly slouched pose and titled her hat even more, more than half of her face hidden beneath it. And then her heart skipped a beat when she noticed that it was Steven, reading a book while he was walking.

_Oh my gosh! What if he does recognize me? Then he'll think that I'm a complete idiot_, thought Hermione panicking. The idea of going back home sounded very promising at the moment. So Hermione turned and started to walk the other way.

_Please don't notice me, please don't notice me_, repeated Hermione in her head.

Just when she was going to quicken her pace she heard a loud thud and the floor shook beneath her feet. Hermione turned around to see Steven lying on the carpet floor, rubbing his elbow, and looking not too please.

"Are you alright?" asked Hermione in concern, all thoughts of running away from him vanishing.

She ran to him as quick as she could, considering that she was wearing high heels. She kneeled down beside him and grabbed the book that he was reading. She gave it back to him and offered a shy smile, forgetting that he couldn't see more than half of her face.

"Um…thank you Miss…" said Steven, managing a small smile.

"Um…Miss Vandobor," said Hermione, making up her last name.

_Besides, how many Vandobor does he know? Zero_, thought Hermione, happy that she didn't choose a common name.

"Thank you very much Miss Vandobor for coming to my rescue," said Steven now grinning and Hermione's heart did a flip. She blushed scarlet under her sun hat, her stomach in knots.

_Who wouldn't love him? He's smart, sweet, polite…_thought Hermione dreamily.

"Excuse me? Um…Miss Vandobor, you're kind of sitting on my lap," said Steven nervously. Hermione looked around to see that he was right.

"How on earth did I do that?" she mumbled to herself, her face a deeper shade of red. She stammered over her apologies, wishing that she could just melt into the ground.

"It's all right. No harm done," replied Steven as he got up from the ground.

He helped Hermione up, wondering why he was having a nagging feeling that he met this strange woman before. Just when he was about to ask something to the young lady, someone caught his eye. He looked over Hermione's shoulder and she could sense that somebody was coming their way.

_If it's Jessica or Joey, I swear I'll never let them in my apartment ever again_, declared Hermione silently.

She turned around, dreading to see a grinning Jessica or Joey, to find someone completely different. Draco Malfoy was strutting his way over, a lazy smirk playing on his lips.

_What is he doing here? I'm supposed to find him, not the other way around!_ thought Hermione furiously. The butterflies in her stomach died and the dreamy expression Hermione had on her face (not that anyone could notice) disappeared instantly.

"Hello? Are you that new guy who's moving in?" asked Steven politely as Draco stopped right in front of the two. His eyes on Hermione, Draco answered, "Yeah, that's me actually."

"My name's Steven," said Steven holding out his hand. Draco finally looked away from Hermione, which she was grateful for, and shook hands with the brown haired man.

"Draco Malfoy," he drawled. His eyes went back to Hermione.

"And what's your name, Miss?" asked Draco, almost sounding suspicious.

"I am Miss Vandabor," said Hermione quickly in a high voice. Draco raised his eyebrow.

"Really?" he said, "What an odd name? It's certainly not English. What's your background?"

Hermione cursed under her breath. Of course she was from England! She just made up the name for crying out loud. It was part of her disguise.

"I am from…eh…Bulgaria," she finally said. An image of Viktor Krum ridding his broomstick popped in her mind and she fought the urge to smile.

"You don't have much of an accent, if you ask me," observed Draco, a gleam in his eyes. Hermione glared at him behind her hat.

"Well thank you, I pride myself on my English," she snapped, a warning to drop the subject in her voice. Steven stared at Draco and at Hermione several times before politely excusing himself, saying that he still needed to feed his cat.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" asked Draco suddenly as Hermione wistfully watched Steven depart and turn a corner. The question took Hermione by surprise as she just stared open mouth at him.

"What?" she asked, finding her voice.

"Would you like a cup of tea at my place?" asked Draco, bowing slightly.

"I hope that I will be able to entertain a foreigner while she visited England," he continued smoothly. Heermione blushed. The idea that Draco Malfoy was somewhat flirting with her, even though he didn't know it was actually Hermione Granger he was talking to, made Hermione feel a little bit more than uneasy. She tried to think up of an excuse to leave him.

_Wait one minute. That's the reason why I'm here. By going with him, I'll know where he lives_, she thought excitedly.

"I would certainly like that," she said pleasantly, an evil smile on her face. She unwillingly took his arm as he leaded the way.

_What an idiot_, she thought, pleased at how well her plan was a success. Draco started to talk about his family, ancestry (mentioning that his family goes back for more than ten generations seven times), and his financial status. Hermione wanted nothing more than for him to shut up. She hardly cared about his history and she didn't recall ever asking about it either. The idea of strangling him slightly dimmed her great annoyance of being near him.

_Is this really worth it?_ she asked herself as he started to describe the Malfoy Manor. But the minute she asked herself that question, she knew the answer. Of course it was worth it. Hermione would be somewhat at an advantage, plus she would be staying inside his apartment as he would "entertain her."

If this is entertainement, then I don't want it, she thought as she stole a glance at Draco. He looked perfectly relaxed as he went on and on and on. It took Hermione by surprise a few minutes later to see him opening a door. It stood out and Hermione could instantly tell why, as it was repainted with a fresh coat of white paint and a shining silver doorknob. There was a bronze plate and engraved in what oddly looked like green jewels, was the name "Draco Malfoy."

"Are you serious?" she mumbled under her breath, not believing it.

Draco also nodded, faintly hearing what she had said.

"I know, it's hardly anything at all. But compared to everything else, it looks absolutely marvelous," boasted Draco as he waved his hand. Looking at the other doors, where the white paint looked somewhat gray and was peeling off (people had been kind enough to draw graffiti on it as well) Draco's arrogant smirk changed into a look of disgust.

"Now shall we?" he said as he grabbed a gold key from his pockets and opened the door.

Just when Draco was about to say something, Hermione quickly intervened, "May I use the bathroom please?" she asked politely. Draco looked surprised but nodded his head, telling her the direction. Hermione nodded and quickly walked away from him, barely paying attention to the vast living room where the famous diamond chandeliers hung from the ceiling. She passed a room, the door slightly ajar. Guessing from the large king size bed and a Slytherin banner hung against the wall, Hermione saw that it was Draco's room.

Suddenly, inspiration struck Hermione, stopping her in her tracks.

What a wonderful idea, she thought, silently praising herself for such an idea. She would do it simply for revenge. He had broken her wand after all.

A wicked smile played on her lips just thinking about.

_I am a genius_, she thought as she sneaked inside his bedroom. _Now where does Draco Malfoy put his underwear?_

(A/N: Still rereading the seventh book, I can't believe the Harry Potter series are finished! Anyways, I wouldn't mind if you took the time and reviewed! **wink wink**

teaser for chapter 13

"What in the name of Merlin do you think you're doing?" asked a cold voice. Hermione slowly turned around, dreading the worst. She saw that Draco was standing by the door, blocking her only escape. He glared at her, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I lost an earring," said Hermione, blurting the first thing that came to mind. But unfortunately for Hermione, she realized that Ron and Harry were right. She was a horrible liar. The expression on Draco's shadowed face darkened considerably.

_What am I going to do now?_ she thought. _I am not jumping out of a window!_

Until next time! Bye for now! Don't forget to review!

(A/N: Personally, I love the people in Hermione's apartment. Either you guys think I'm weird or agree (not counting the porn man). And I love Steven although this is a DM/HG fic.


	13. Trapped In A Web Of Lies

Title: Cursed

Previously on chapter 12- A Woman With A Mission…

_What a wonderful idea_, she thought, silently praising herself for such an idea. She would do it simply for revenge. He had broken her wand after all.

A wicked smile played on her lips just thinking about it.

_I am a genius_, she thought as she sneaked inside his bedroom. _Now where does Draco Malfoy put his underwear?_

A/N: I'm very very very sorry that I haven't updated this story yet!

Chapter 13- Trapped In A Web Of Lies

Hermione could barely contain her excitement. The need to jump up and down was hard to resist. Lips curled into a huge evil smile, Hermione thought over what she was going to do. She listened hard for any approaching footsteps as she held her breath. Quickly taking a peek in the living room, Hermione was glad to see that she would be undisturbed. Draco was sitting comfortably on a luscious green couch and was reading an article in the newspaper. A bucket was sitting patiently on the table, a large and expensive looking bottle of wine tucked in, surrounded by ice.

_Perfect_, thought Hermione as she quietly made her way back to Draco's bedroom.

As silent as a cat, Hermione slipped unnoticed into the bedroom. She felt like she was robbing a bank. Adrenaline mixed with excitement pumped in her veins. A small part was nagging her though, telling her that what she was doing was wrong. Shouldn't she be a good girl and just leave as everything was?

Hermione squashed down the feeling of guilt as she tiptoed across the warm and fuzzy carpet. She liked making a reckless move. The brown haired woman looked around and her brown eyes landed on a large oak polished wardrobe.

_A little searching and I should find something_, she thought as she opened the doors.

She winced as the wooden doors creaked. Whipping her head to the door, Hermione held her breath, listening for any movement. Nothing happened.

_He must think that I have some sort of bladder problems_, thought Hermione, silently laughing at the idea.

After a minute at most, she turned back, the smile still playing on her lips.

Her back to the door, she started rummaging through Draco's rather expensive clothes. On a few occasions, she even saw a dress robes with diamonds incrusted in the buttons. They dimly gleamed against the faint light pouring from the crack of the door. Hermione couldn't help but snort out loud.

"So much like Malfoy I don't even know why I'm surprised," muttered Hermione as she threw them back.

After another minute of searching (Hermione was thinking of just ripping his clothes instead), she finally found what she had been looking for. Chocolate brown eyes widened as all other body movements froze. Seeing the type of underwear Draco enjoyed to wear was to say the least… interesting.

A choked laugh escaped from Hermione's lips and her hand immediately clapped to her mouth. She tried to stifle her giggles but to no success. Herminone's eyes were dancing with mirth as they gleamed with unshed tears. The more she stared at Draco's boxers, the harder it was to control her laughter. In a few seconds, she was on the floor, clutching a pair of boxers with teddy bears on them.

A minute passed by before Hermione could control herself. Once in a while, a burst of giggles would escape but the silence in the bedroom reign. The brown haired witch sat neatly on the carpet ground and thought for a moment. She raised her arm and quietly whispered a spell. A beam of silver light escaped from the tip of her clutched wand. The light floated in front of Hermione, taking the form of a silvery cloud. There was a sudden small pop that broke the silence and a pair of scissors was hanging in mid air.

Hermione grabbed them quickly and started to work.

"Revenge is so sweet," she said as she snipped through the expensive fabric.

Draco sighed impatiently. Finding nothing better to do, he took another gulp of his expensive Italian red wine. Out of generosity, he had brought two glasses and one of his most expensive bottles of wine. The lone and empty glass that belonged to Miss Vandabor stood on the table. Draco twirled his glass, his patience leaving. His calm demeanor was slipping away and he started to tap his foot.

"What's taking her so long?" he wondered out loud.

A frown appeared on his face as he let out a long, impatient sigh. He leaned his blond head against the couch, his eyes barely soaking in the details on the chandelier hanging on the ceiling above him.

_Is she having…bathroom troubles?_ he thought. His frown dissolved almost instantly as an expression of disgust was painted on.

"If she does, she'll be cleaning my bathroom. Or I'll make Granger do it. Wouldn't that be nice?" said Draco to no one in particular. His lips curved into a smirk, imaging the bookworm's reaction.

He vividly remembered the events that happened in the bathroom.

_I have to see someone about that cow thing_, he thought, his frown back in place.

Suddenly, Draco's sensitive ears detected a faintgiggle.

"What the hell?" he said. Draco steered his gaze to the hallway where ten minutes ago, Miss Vandabor had disappeared.

Instantly suspicious, Draco put his wine glass down and silently walked to the hallway.

Hermione took another deep breath, not wanting to snort with laughter once again. She was holding Draco's sixth pair of underwear and she was utterly amazed at his choices. The rabbits winked at her repeatedly while they wiggled their fluffy white tails.

"I should send him one for Christmas," she thought out loud, an evil smile playing on her lips.

"What in the name of Merlin do you think you're doing?" asked a cold voice.

Hermione froze at once, his soft voice speaking volumes. The scissors fell from Hermione's hand, close to hitting her knee as they fell to the ground. The silky underwear slipped from her fingers and landed on the ground, covering the scissors from view. Hermione slowly stood up and turned around, dreading the worst. Her heart was beating at an uneven and fast pace. She silently prayed that it wasn't a certain blond man who lived in the apartment.

Hermione saw that it was indeed Draco that was standing by the door, blocking her only escape. Dread washed over her. The blond man glared at her, his arms crossed over his chest.

The brown haired woman silently cursed at herself for not hearing him.

"I lost an earring," said Hermione quickly, blurting the first thing that came to mind.

But unfortunately for her, luck had suddenly departed from her side. It was crystal clear by just looking at Draco's stony expression that he didn't believe a word Hermione had said. The expression on Draco's shadowed face darkened considerably.

_Ron and Harry are right. I'm a horrible liar_, realized Hermione silently. Unfortunately for her, that piece of news wasn't helping very much.

Draco took one step, now entering his bedroom. His angry gray eyes drilled holes into Hermione's slightly frightened ones. Sealed shut, cold fury swirled in the depths of his eyes.

_What am I going to do now?_ thought Hermione desperately. _I am not jumping out of a window!_

"I'm curious, Miss Vandabor. How is it that your earring could be found in my bedroom? _Especially when_ _the door was closed to begin with_?" asked Draco barely over a whisper.

His voice was dangerously low and quiet, a helpful reminder that Hermione was in big trouble. The disguised witch inwardly winced at the menace seeping through his question, knowing that he had trapped her in her little web of lies.

_Come on, think of something_, she inwardly commanded. No lie was within grasp. Her mind was suddenly empty.

Draco took another step forward and the troubled witch automatically took a step back.

"Cat got your tongue, Miss Vandabor?" asked Draco quietly, his expression anything but pleasant and friendly.

A gasp of shock parted from Hermione's lips as her back suddenly collided against the oak door of Draco's wardrobe. Draco had trapped her into a corner.

End of chapter 13

A/N: Once again, very sorry for the long update. I hope this chapter satisfied you guys. Any reviews?

Blue sapphire lady


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